I Love Customers
Customers are great. If you don’t think so, you’ll never succeed. Surprisingly, a lot of people consider their customers to be “the enemy” or a nuisance they’re forced to deal with.
Just remember that customers:
- pay the bills
- provide good feedback
- find bugs you’ll never find on your own
- use your product in new ways (which can result in new opportunities)
- recommend your product/service to others
- serve as references
Without customers you don’t have a business. It’s as simple as that.
And the key to everything I’ve listed above is having happy customers. Unhappy customers do none of the above. In fact, they do quite the opposite. And that’s bad. (I’m trying to be plain spoken and clear about this!)
The simplest way to have happy customers is through customer support. Of course building a product they want to use is a necessity - but you don’t even have to get that right out of the gate if you’re providing killer customer support.
Customer support isn’t complicated but it is demanding and time consuming. It requires fast response times, courteous replies and decisive action. Luckily for you, very few companies (especially startups!) provide anything remotely resembling quality customer support and so you can immediately use it as a differentiator.
And that’s really the key — leveraging great customer support into a differentiator.
This is especially true for startups. You might not think a startup has the time and wherewithal to focus on customer support, but it’s an absolute necessity. Invariably your product will be rough around the edges, bugs will emerge and there will be a shortage of features. On top of that, you’re the new kid on the block, so customers may look at you with a bit of concern (especially in a B2B market.) “How long will they last?” “Can they really provide the level of product quality and service we need?” To assuage those concerns, and balance against the shortcomings of an early product, use great customer support.
Doing so will increase the likelihood of good things happening (see the list above if you need a reminder.) Customer support can be a strong differentiator if you maintain it at exceptional levels, because you can be sure others won’t bother. They don’t recognize the value. And they’re losing business because of it.
Ben: I totally agree with you…it is all about serving others, alias, the customer. There are so many different people out there with different needs, attitudes, and perspectives, so if we can become good listeners, then we will learn from our customers and grow our customer/client base. Regards, Keith Johnson, Author “365 Great Affirmations”.
Good post Ben…
“Surprisingly, a lot of people consider their customers to be “the enemy””
I think when it comes to this point you a) either need to seriously change your attitude or b) recognize you’re in the wrong business/industry.
Especially nowadays where getting something off the ground is probably easier than ever, entrepreneurs will be tempted to wade into markets that are new to them - I think the mistake many make is they don’t understand what the customers will be like in their new space - and that can be fatal…
[...] posts from his Instigator Blog here frequently. (See list at bottom). Yesterday, Ben put up an ode to his customers that is (OK) a tad mushy but, as always, [...]
Ben,
Slight disagreement. Most customers are great. But some customers are nothing but a pain in the ass. They demand more than they are willing to give. When doing retail business online, I’ve had to tell some customers that I can’t do business with them because they are too demanding. It is a small percentage, but some customers just aren’t worth the effort. Some of the more succesful retailers have come to this conclusion as well.
Like Best Buy I don’t really like Best Buy, but they are on to something.
Earlier I thought it were not necessary to communicate correctly with all people. But now I understand they all can be my customers , that is why I behave myself otherwise now.
Hi Ben, I need more customers to love, to satisfy, and to help them meet their objectives! I hope you are well
I agree 100% about the value of customers to businesses. It is without doubt that customers are a major means of promotion of your company or business, via word of mouth.
Buried beneath layers of menus or hidden from view is your contact information for Customer Support. Some companies even deliberately hide their contact information, because they simply don’t want customers to contact them. Put your info in front of their eyes.
Yes, your biz will soar
You are right about that. Without happy customers, we have nothing.
Great observations, Ben. It’s surprising, therefore, to note how many people in intensely customer driven businesses consistently sabotage themselves on one level or another with customer service practises that go as far as to border on abuse! It’s a form of selective blindness, perhaps?
-Tom
Thank you for all the feedback.
@Steve: I didn’t say that all customers were perfect. In fact, I’ve written about “firing customers” in the past as well, which I think is inevitable in most businesses. The point is that customer service / support can be used as a differentiator if done properly … and in fact, the better support you provide the sooner you’ll weed out the customers that don’t belong.
I think Ben just said my favorite phrase ever “firing customers” in the past we’ve had to do that a few times at my job, and im sorry but hes right sometimes it is required.
But a lot of times proper customer support can aleviate that ever being needed to occur in the first place. Ben is dead on in the suggestion that proper support and tracking of issues can result in weeding out problematic customers early on and save on headaches down the road.
I agree 100%. I know customers can be annoying at times. As a customer myself I get annoyed a lot. Whenever I encounter an annoying customer I try to put my self in their shoes. What is making them annoyed? Is it something I can fix?
[...] But how do you manage that - most of which involves day-to-day issues (like acquiring customers, customer support, managing the team, handling bugs, etc.) - while still keeping an overall eye on your strategic [...]
yea what u say is true, altough there are a few customers i wouldnt mind losing. they just create more stress and problems than are worth the money :/
Managing customer support is very time consuming. I use autoresponders to reply to all support inquiries, plus compiled a FAQ to hopefully answer popular questions before I must respond personally.
[...] Service is Everything. Everyone knows I love customers and I consider customer support & service paramount to success. Byron explains this perfectly: [...]
[...] And this philosophy, I can guarantee you will apply to most customer-centric businesses. So, don’t be afraid to challenge your customer and provide them the right direction. In the end, they will appreciate you for it even though it may not seem like the right thing to do initially. [...]