Cater to our best customers, Fire your worst

I had a new prospect come in the parents talked to my wife, Ester. They were really drilling her with question and did not like our terms. Another words, they complained about the classes being only half hour long, asked if we could pick their son up from the daycare down the street, and making all kinds of other ridiculous demands. My wife could hardly believe it.

I think that excellent student service is vitally important, but when does it go too far. In America, we’re taught to be very accommodating especially to customers to the point of nauseam. Don’t get me wrong here. I believe in stellar service but this sometimes sets you up for someone take advantage of you at the expense of your good customers.

The impact… Your worst customers are still unhappy and complaining even with your special accommodations and your best customers suffer and leave. Would you rather keep your best customers, not your worst customers?

The longer I'm in business the more I realize the importance of attracting the right people to your business. I see too many business owners completely change the way they do business just because of one complaint. These changes often hurt the business because it take into consideration one client over the needs of your current clients - leaving them feeling disillusioned and upset about the change in service that they already enjoy.

Why?
Because you create a system of doing business, you must remain in the system for it to work very effective. When individuals go around the system, the system is no longer effective, and rest of your business follows.

If a prospect doesn't like the way, you do things, and wants you to do sometime totally differently. Beware… this is the start of a problem and this customer maybe better off as some else’s client. The best rule of thumb is to remain within your core competency.

Finding good customers assists your business in many ways. They are easier to service, complain less, see the value your service, spend more money, provide well-qualified referrals, and benefit tremendously from your service. Sounds like a win-win deal. On the other hand, get rid your complainers, cheapskates, whiners, and any other people who cause trouble and create more headaches. It's better to charge more for your tuition and to have fewer students that really enjoy your service than have many customers that only partly enjoy your service.