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Want to Grow Your Business? Stop Blaming the Customer

Written by: Greg Schinkel

Article Overview: If the staff in your company constantly complain about customers it could be limiting your growth. After all, the customers write the checks that pay the bills. Challenging customers may be difficult to serve but they also need what you provide and may even be willing to pay more for the priviledge.

Want to Grow Your Business? Stop Blaming the Customer

I had the pleasure of attending a social event connected to a convention I was attending in Calgary. The organizers had planned an entertainment-packed evening at a "cowboy ranch" with gun slinging cowboys, a comedian, a live auction, and for those who were brave enough, a mechanical bull. All the proceeds were to go to the organization's foundation.

Unfortunately, many members of the audience were happy just to sit and socialize and then get back to the hotel for some rest before the next day's program. So when the host announced that the first bus had arrived, half the group left, making the auction a dud.

The organizers were ticked. They spent all this time and energy to plan a great outing and the attendees had the gall to leave early!

They fell into the trap of "blaming the customer" and I hear variations of it in many of the organizations I work with. I've done it myself - blame the customer for not buying, blame the participants for a mediocre session (this happens rarely!).

Don't Blame the Customer

You have heard the expression, "the customer is always right." Now we know that the customer isn't always right, however it could be said that, "the customer is always right in his/her own mind."

This distinction is important because right or wrong, when the customer decides to vote with her feet and money, the impact is felt on your organization. Similarly in a "discussion" with my wife Robin I can choose between being "right" and spending quality time on the couch or allowing her to be "right" which makes for a cosier bed time.

No amount of "marketing" can push a bad product or service onto a customer and expect to last in the long term. Many organizations think they know better what the customer wants, when in reality the customer isn't buying it.

Be Thankful for "Challenging" Customers

Customers with high expectations help challenge your organization to achieve more. One group of customer service reps was complaining about how disorganized their customers were. I pointed out that those disorganized customers were placing even greater value on the service provided by their company. If the customers were better organized they would place less value on the service provided and profits would decrease.

There will be customers who you are better off without. The ones that cost you more than you make. Before writing them off, consider how to provide the level of service they expect at a profit.

Reflection Questions

Does your organization blame the customer for it's challenges? Are you an accomplice to this act? How could your organization be more customer-focused and earn record profits?

Action Items

• Listen for signs that your organization is blaming the customer for its woes.
• Ask questions that move your organization forward, "How can we win the business and maintain profitability?"
• Stop complaining about customers and start finding ways to make them happy at a profit.
• Remember that the ultimate antidote to having difficult customers is having no customers at all...

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  Blaming Others
  Stop Blaming Marketing
  First Blame Yourself -- The Amazing Opportunity In Responsibility
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Article Tags: customer satisfaction, customer service, leadership, sales growth



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Re: Business Coaching Resources - You're fortunate when you can find a Business Coach who has experience beyond where you've been and even where you are going. When your budget is slim and even after, it's good to have a mentor. Several of various backgrounds are very useful. They can be teachers, professors, pastors, business people, family members, bosses and former bosses. You have to be clear on what you want and what you desire to achieve, be able to convey it as simply as possible. Stop and listen and don't over tax their time. You should always expect results whether from a Business Coach or Mentors. If you're not gtting results, you're either not focused or you need to upgrade the quality of your mentors/coaches. Always surround yourself by people smarter than you.
Re: On taking Action - [quote="jvprosperity":1hd0zjku]I was surprised to not see the words along the lines of taking deliberate action within the article. Do yo think it's an important part of the 6 points Evan summarized from the article or is it implied?[/quote:1hd0zjku] Hi Andy, I think taking deliberate action is implied in the six points. For instance, I interpret them as follows: 1. Set your sights on where you’re going - Write your goals down on paper. 2. Educate yourself - Read everyday about your field and even take courses on it. 3. Passion pays off - Enjoy what you're doing. 4. Grow your money - Invest your money. 5. No guts, no glory - Go out and sell your product/service/self everyday as if it were last. 6. The Biggest Secret? Stop spending. - Put aside as much money as you can into savings your account/retirement fund.
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT - Hi David, To add to your thread, I'd like to recommend Jonathan Tisch's "Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience". Tisch's book includes content on "Welcoming Customers", "The New Art of Customization", "The Challenges of Customer Diversity" and "Offering Something Extra to Your Customers" to name a few.
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.


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