Is The Customer Always King?
logic+intuition is now open for business with consultancy work already underway for our first customer. Its great to get going with a client for whom we will be able to make such a big difference. It doesn’t always start out this way however. Can you remember who was your first client? Every business starts out somewhere. How was your first customer?
My first job was in a pub. When I dropped a pint of creamy Guinness on one of my first customer’s lap, he threatened to send the dry cleaning bill to the owner. “There goes my job I thought”. “Just kidding” the man said! Later, clearly scarred by this episode I joined Guinness France! There, the MD threw me in the deep end and arranged for me to meet a very tricky customer on my own. It was terrifying. What can you do when your first client asks you a series of questions for which all your story-telling techniques just can’t even find a way out! First customers can affect the future of your business, you should never forget them.
In 2003 my restaurant, the kitchen in Paris opened its doors for the first time for lunch. In the early days the first customers were smothered in well intended attention. The more they got however, the more they felt there was something wrong and the more they wanted! I learnt subsequently that, sometimes contrary to the commonly accepted laws of customer service, people don’t always appreciate those who are simply nice or generous! They find it suspicious, it’s much easier to figure out someone who is just rude or authoritative. I found myself offering free lunches, coffees and filling up glasses of wine for the slightest of complaints. The fact is you just can’t please everyone all the time. Sometimes you are better off pleasing those who enjoy being pleased.
The same applies to Internet sites, you can’t please everyone. Your are either not saying enough or you’re saying too much. Or have too many products or not enough. When starting out it is crucial to begin with customers who can be pleased. They have to be customers for whom you can make a difference, those who will recognise that you have made a difference and who will tell others that you did make a difference. Let them spread the word and only then let them sit on the throne they deserve!
Written by Bennet Holmes and posted on Friday, 13th October, 2006.
I remember reading a book by Irish entreprenuer Feargal Quinn. His Superquinn supermarkets became renowned for their unparalelled customer service. Hence the title of his book - ‘Crowning the Customer‘. It’s a great book and has probably been very influential.
I don’t remember what he would have said about trying to please everyone. I suspect in his approach however that he was only trying to please those that would be pleased by good customer service.
It’s interesting looking at a company like Ryanair. If a customer wants a cheap flight above all else then they will most likely please them. As soon as that customer starts to look to convenience, comfort or overall experience - they are less likely to be pleased. Ryanair created its success perhaps on just pleasing those who wanted a cheap flight above all else. Hence the tagline - the low fares airline…
↓ Quote | October 18, 2006
I guess this is common sense. To misquote Abe Lincoln: you can please some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but can never please all of the people all of the time!
But I think there are also parallels with how you market your site online, particularly with keywords but also with ad campaigns. I find in my own industry, online gaming, it pays to be very precise about what your particular offer is, who you’re targetting and thus what search terms are going to be most relevant. We compete in one of the most competitive search spaces on the web, certainly in value terms, and if we optimised our site for (and paid for) terms like “gambling” or “casino” we’d waste a lot of energy and money. Instead we go for terms like “uk fruit machine” etc - there are not as many searches as “casino” but much better conversions! Laser guided precision rather than carpet bombing, provide searchers with what they want in any business.
↓ Quote | November 6, 2006
In online marketing you do not have to spend like a king to work your way up to the throne! I agree about the ‘laser guided precision’, at logic+intuition we believe like you in having a bit more of a smaller cake than no cake from the biggest keyword markets.
↓ Quote | November 11, 2006