Introduction
I recently participated in an ExitReadiness Podcast organized by Pat Ennis. Our topic was “When You Start Making A Big Decision, First Talk with the People Involved.” The high-level summary is when you have to make a significant business decision treat customers as individuals and talk with them about the impact. Without this step, the outcome will likely fail to achieve your objective.
After we finished the recording, I thought that if people want their opinions to be considered when making a significant decision, how do they want to be treated in “normal” interactions? My immediate reaction was to fall back on the Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I thought that was the correct answer until I realized that not everyone I deal with has my background, experiences, fears, wants, and needs. I realized that following the Golden Rule could hurt, frustrate, annoy, or anger the other party.
Then I thought about the message I shared during the podcast, which, simply, is to treat customers as individuals. So, I did some thinking and landed on the Platinum Rule, which is usually stated as “Do unto others as they would want to be done to them.” This means you must invest the time to determine how people like your customers and employees want to be treated. And then do it.
Here is an older article I wrote about this topic. It is still relevant.
Let me give you an example.
The workplace temperature
When I control the thermostat, I set it at 70 o or 71o. At home, this causes lots of discussions. My wife likes the temperature at 73o, and my daughter likes 68o year-round. Fortunately, we adjust what we wear together and spend much time adjusting the temperature, but we work with it. But what about in your office? If you are the only person permitted to change the room temperature, you will no doubt lose some key employees because there are many open jobs, and they can find a job that will accommodate their needs.
If your business depends on customers entering your office or store and spending a fair amount of time inside, they might give up. Since everyone has competition, they may have no problem finding a comfortable environment to shop in and may also discover other benefits. The new store may be slightly less expensive or have a better selection, and the new customer may tell her friends. When your business starts to fall off, you will have no idea what caused some excellent customers to leave.
Avoiding the problem
In general, when people are uncomfortable about something, they send signals. This means you and your employees must be trained to read body language, and then they must feel comfortable talking with people in a caring way to find out what is bothering them. This is not easy, but there is no other choice.
Today, people are more than willing to express their displeasure by changing suppliers, business partners, or whatever you call yourself. Very few businesses have created genuinely sticky companies that offer so much value that customers are willing to put up with a business practice they don’t like.
For example, how many people do you know or hear about who moved from your community because they did not like something about the school system? Even monopolies are not exempt from this situation.
If you are considerate and treat customers as individuals and employees as customers, it will go a long way to making your business more valuable.
About Middlesex Consulting
Middlesex Consulting is an experienced team of professionals with the primary goal of helping capital equipment companies create more value for their clients and stakeholders. Middlesex Consulting continues to provide superior solutions to meet the needs of its clients by focusing on our strengths in Services, Manufacturing, Customer Experience, and Engineering. If you want to learn more about how we can help your organization enter the world of advanced services, please get in touch with us or check out some of our free articles and white papers here.