That’s My Opinion By Ron Sturgeon rons@rdsinvestments.com

Tips on Success –Never Forget that the Customer is King

his tip is one of 25 tactics to increase your business success that I have used in my business career. I started with noth- ing and didn’t go to college, so I know you can achieve maximum success regardless of your level of education or circumstances. Never forget the value of a customer.

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Evaluating Quality Customers Certainly, a time comes in every busi-

ness when you need to fire a customer. Here are some reasons I have had for doing so: they would not pay me; they were threatening an employee; or they were unprofessional.

Whenever you have to fire a customer, you always want to consider how parting company might affect you. Will you ever encounter them again? How will they take being fired? Are they so vindictive that they may try to harm your reputation online or with other clients? When you have to fire a customer, do it only after having thought it out carefully. One of my favorite books about the positive side of keeping customers is Carl Sewell’s Customers for Life. Every business owner should read it and make sure every sales and service employee they employ reads it.

For example, Linda is an insurance agent with State Farm Insurance for more than 20 years and has been a State Farm Agent in Fort Worth for six years. She understands that business is about customer relationships. Two times a week, a current client comes to her office and tells her that they intend to move their business to another carrier because of price. She is never defensive, always kind, empathetic and professional. Linda listens carefully and is often able to keep those customers because she treats them with kindness and courtesy. By listening and empathizing, Linda is often able to get a client to sit down with her to compare the coverages and learn

24 Automotive Recycling | November-December 2015

about the differences that produce the savings. Many appreciate that kind of service and decide to stay with Linda. When she does lose a customer, Linda always asks for the opportunity to quote when they are up for renewal and some come back to her because she demon-

Good service is rarer than it should be.

strates that her interest in clients goes far beyond a transaction. Rate is just one of many factors when people choose to do business with her. It’s also about the qual- ity of service they get.

Service with a Smile Good service is more rare than it

should be. I recently had a disagreement with a service company. The service rep responded to my complaint by telling me that no one else ever complained about their service. The implication was that I was being unreasonable.

Even if I were being unreasonable, what is the upside of responding to a complaint in a way that implies the fault is with the client? They told me that I was 100 percent wrong (there’s always a sec- ond side to every story), then even said I was “spoiled.” Even if I were, what did they gain by making the point, except my anger?

Then, they told me that I couldn’t find anyone with their credentials and quali- ty to do that job at the price I wanted. Ironically, they are a new business in a crowded niche. New or established, never be so pompous or naïve as to think you are the only one who can do the job. Then they wanted to discuss all that they did right on the job, rather than dis- cussing the mistake or problem. Again,

that isn’t going to repair the relationship or keep the customer. Imagine your son telling you how he made almost all B’s as a defense when you confront him about a D on his report card. I fired them very graciously. I prompt- ly hired someone else to do the work. My new vendor is doing a better job for less money. Even though I liked the old ven- dor, they did not value the relationship with me or did not understand the basics of customer service, and acted on emo- tion when challenged. Worse still, they did not learn anything that might improve their service from losing my business.

Learn from Mishaps I teach the client service employees at

my companies to deal with customers by listening, empathizing, and acting to cor- rect the issue. We spell out the steps that we will take to fix the issue and ensure that it does not happen again. We apol- ogize and we fix it. We’re about solutions that are win-win and strengthen the rela- tionship with that customer. Don’t get caught up in thinking about one transaction. Keep your eye on the lifetime value of the customer whose issue you need to solve. What is all of his or her future business worth? What are the referrals that he or she could send you worth? Think lifetime value, not sin- gle transaction, and you will find it gets easier to keep customers for life. If you want all 25 of the tactics, e-mail me for the series.

Remember only you can make busi- ness great!

Ron Sturgeon, an author and founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, www.autosalvageconsultant.com, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with exten- sive experience in consulting, speaking, and

business writing. Ron shares his expertise in strategic plan- ning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share providing field-proven, high-profit best practices.