The CUSTOMER writes your paycheck.
I am aware that for most everyone, there is a different name on the check than that of one of the customers of the business or service. Small entrepreneurs who work with one client at a time, for example a contractor, know quite well what I am speaking of because in many cases the customer is the one actually writing them what amounts to their paycheck (minus the labor and materials required to complete the work). But in general, most people never think about the customer this way until they are made aware of it.
This is why you see so much poor service or poor attitudes in the retail environment. The person behind the counter sees the customer as someone to deal with or often as an inconvenience….especially if there is an issue or the customer needs more help other than simply paying for an item. The person behind the counter doesn’t make the connection that without this “inconvenience” in front of them, they would not have a job.
In all things, regardless of how it is sliced up…the customer is writing the paycheck. Never forget this.
In business your job is to cultivate, win, and serve customers. Make them feel like they would never want to do business with anyone else relative to your market niche. The more you work in this way, the more your paycheck will grow in whatever it is you do.
This article was triggered by an experience I had in a bank two days ago. I am in the process of dealing with a lot of my Mother’s financial matters as she has entered a new stage of life. I went into a bank where she had an account to make a simple adjustment to this account. When I sat with the man “Bill” who was working in the accounts area and told him what I needed done, his immediate response was “We can’t do that.” I knew this was a simple thing to do, and that even if they couldn’t do exactly what I wanted they could provide a solution that would accomplish what I needed.
Bill’s response to me should have been “let me see what I can do.” He had no interest in providing me with service. It turned out that a man with more experience was sitting at the desk next to him, heard the exchange, and piped right up by saying, “sure, we can do that.” Now Bill looked doubly bad. First off, he lacked enough knowledge about this simple financial instrument to know the answer to my question. Instead of saying to me “I don’t know, let me find out.” He said No to me without knowing this to be true. Incompetent to say the least. Then he demonstrated no motivation to learn the answer. Lack of character. He now had successfully demonstrated No Credibility with me in less than five minutes. Bill clearly doesn’t know that people like me and you write his paycheck…which means that his paycheck isn’t going to grow much in the coming years (best case) or he won’t have one at all!
Interestingly, I personally moved my accounts from this particular bank many years ago, because at that time, I didn’t think their customer service was very good. Looks like it hasn’t changed much. And I don’t see this bank growing much either…see the correlation?
Always remember: The customer writes your paycheck.
