Top ten customer tips

1. Fire problem customers: If it’s not worth making the customer right, fire her. If you’ve got something worth paying for, you gain power when you refuse to offer it to every single person who is willing to pay you.

2. Cut them some slack: You’re not setting precedent every time you interact with someone. Customers deserve a little slack now and then.

3. Don’t teach, just delight: If you try to teach a customer a lesson, you’ve just done two things: failed at teaching a lesson and lost a customer.

4. Shiny happy people: If you’re going to be obsessed with delighting customers, it’s more efficient to focus on customers that are able to be delighted. Hire nice people and attract satisfiable, gabby customers.

5. Customer of the month: Do you have one? With a special parking space and their picture on the wall? Give it a try, it’s probably worth the risk.

6. Every customer is different: A common mistake marketers make is believing that there is perfect information between consumers.

7. The right apology: “We’re sorry that we caused this problem”. This is what the customer needs to hear.

8. Every customer is different (part 2): Not every pair of feet that walks in the door is worth the same as the feet before.

9. For, not to: Do you spend time doing things to your customers or for your customers?

10. On the same side: What happens when your worldview and biases are so different from the places you’re hoping to grow?

Compiled from best-selling author Seth Godin’s blog.Source: IBM publication Now we are 100 in association with the CBI.

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