Always Right

The customer is always right.

They aren’t always right, of course. Many times customers have their head up their ass just like any other human.

Because they are the customer, though, they have something you want, something you need.  They help pay the bills.

Unless they feel heard, respected and satisfied, they aren’t going to buy.  Or at least, they aren’t going to come back to buy more, aren’t going to talk you up and bring their friends.

A customer who feels wronged won’t be a customer for long.  They won’t be a customer anymore, right?

This is the key to business.   If you aren’t giving the customer satisfaction and delight they choose not to be your customer.   You have to meet them where they are and give them something they value, not just what you want to give them or what you think they should want.

The art of developing wants and values in customers is a key skill in serving them.   They may not understand what they could want when they walk in the door, may need a little help in defining their wants.   As long as they feel like they got something of high value when they walk out the door, they will be satisfied.

Nobody opens a business to satisfy customers.  We always open a business to satisfy the needs of the owners.   That may be getting money, it may be working with things we love, it may be building an organization, or so on.   Everyone has their own needs.

Focusing our efforts on satisfying customers is the way business people meet their own needs.  That’s the fundamental rule of the market, finding ways to satisfy those who have resources to spend so that we can get the resources we need to meet our needs, our wants and our hopes.

For our own selfish reasons, we need to become selfless, learning to believe the customer is always right and needs to be satisfied by us, no matter what it takes.   We need to let go of our woulda, coulda, and shoulda and listen to what the customers are saying that they love and hate, so we can give them more of what they want, less of what they don’t, and get in front of them to shape their wants and values in a smart way.

It is important that we give them the best of us, important that we offer something that we can deliver with excellence, important that our love and passion for what we offer shines through and keeps us motivated and enthusiastic, but in the end what pays the bills is satisfying customers.

The customer is always right.

If you have a problem with that, be like me.  Just don’t have any customers, any audience.

But then you better be able to scale your own needs and desires back too.