By: Michael Paul Valentine, "The Plan Doctor"
Who ever made up the stupid rule the customer is always right? Who’s on the side
of the business owner? (Why do I hear crickets?) Let’s face it; a business is not in business without customers right? Right.
Being an entrepreneur is overrated at times. Through my own experience I never thought business would be so intricate. I know most people think hey I’m about to sell something and make some money. Well, I wish it was this easy but it’s not. Especially if you’re in it for the long haul. Great customer service is what keeps great companies open for generations. When mentally preparing yourself for life as an entrepreneur, it’s better to have the mindset of a marathon runner versus the mindset of a sprinter. Having a sprinter’s mind set will surely have your grand closing happening sooner than later. Longevity in business, or a good run metaphorically speaking, is the result of knowing how to classify your customer and how to steer them all into being happy paying customers.
It’s so tough doing your own thing sometimes. Everybody and their little sister seems to have an opinion. When you’re doing your own thing, it’s like you’re opening your fortress to unexpected attackers as well as well wishers. How in the world do you differentiate the one from the other? I’ve learned that you must take the bad with the good. You must also be up front with the customer/ client and paint your vision of a beautiful transaction for them. Never let them guide the way.
If you let them lead you better brace yourself for a train wreck. You’re the professional; that’s why they’ve hired you. As a result you must remember to guard your
reputation at all times and never give up
your power. You gotta’ be on top of your game and willing to go the distance
if challenged. No matter how tough it might get, if you wanna' be #1, you gotta’ constantly work on honing your skill and delivering world-class goods and/ or services as agreed.
There is a great book out called The Ultimate Question- by Fred Reichheld. I think this book is great because it hips you to his notion of there being three types of customers that you’ll encounter while in business. They’re known as Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. I loved the book so much th
at I created my own little filing system loosely based on Reichheld’s theory.
However, my system is based upon a less complicated philosophy with the determinate being whether or not someone who’s heard your sales pitch went for it or not. What I do in my practice is group my customers on whether or not they (or someone they’ve recommended) have given me money. After preferably a face to face encounter or upon concluding a transaction, what I do is place that client’s file within one of four color coded groups that I feel best explains the status of our relationship. Mr. Reichheld describes a person who is a cheerleader for your business as a Promoter.
Promoters are awesome! I classify this group as my green people because they keep the green comn’ in. Or light a green traffic signal; they keep things movn'. I know from countless positive experiences with my green clients that it’s
imperative to ask for a referral. Typically good people know other good people, and promoters, or as I would like to say my green people, will keep your lights on and the open sign on display in your window. They’re like angels. They got ur’ back and are willing to whip anybody into shape who does not think your offering to the world is a God send. It’s very rare that a green person would ever convert to another color. Likewise, it’s important that you keep on doing whatever it is you’re doing to keep them satisfied. Your goal should be to make everyone into a happy green person.
Next we have the Passive Customer. These characters are grouped as my yellow p
eople.
They’re proceeding with caution for some strange reason. So it’s my job, with the assistance of a wonderful staff I must add, to find out how we can turn our yellow people into green people. Now with all due fairness to the Passive Customer, let’s assume that he/ she is neither dissatisfied nor overly pleased with the product or service you’ve rendered. Your job is to try your best to gauge what this customer is feeling/ thinking using your gut instinct. Your gut instinct will help you win the race. You will go crazy trying to read this person’s mind. Attempting to read a yellow’s mind is like trying to get into the mind of a sophisticated chess opponent while simultaneously contemplating your next move. It’s a pure guessing game to say the least. However, regardless of the confusion, yellow’s can easily be converted to green if you can just somehow make what I call a halftime adjustment to win their business. Please note that this group has still not paid you; but they’re thinking about it.
I suggest that you aggressively listen to what they’re saying to identify their "flowering cherry tree", as my friend Brian Tracy would say.
Next we have what Fred Reichheld calls Detractors. I classify Detractors as my red people. Red
to me symbolizes the deal being a no go. My red people either have said they’re not interested in what I have to offer at this time, or they don’t have the money to move forward. I’m not a racist but I actually like red people better than I like yellow people. Simply because red people have the courage to at least tell you where they stand.
But always remember the goal is to make every customer a green customer. Reds, however, are very difficult to convert to greens.
Now… one thing Fred failed to mention is a group that I would like to classify as Customers from Hell. I know you’re sayi
ng to ur’ self ‘The Plan Doctor is so crazy’. But listen... Customers from Hell get labeled under my blue people section. I chose the color blue because these folks have a
way of making you feel black and blue like they’ve beaten you up in a fist fight. It’s unfortunate but even the best of the best have had encounters with a Customer(s) from Hell. The only thing you can do in this case is be as polite and professional as you can be. They hate it when you don’t stoop to their level by the way. Even if you feel like jumping over the counter and ripping their stupid heart out of their chest and eating it you must remain calm.
Sorry for the Jeffrey Dahmer moment, but seriously, you really, really, really must take the high road. Sucks huh? Yeah I know. Jumping over the counter and opening up a can of whoop ass will get you in really big trouble. And if you hurt them too bad, not only to you not get the chance to fix the problem, but they just might become the majority owner of your business if they have a sick attorney. Therefore, if you have a bad temper, it’s best you refrain from adding gasoline to the fire. The best thing you can do as a responsible business person it to just suck it up and take one for the team. After a nice nap, it’s imperative that you take notes on everything that went wrong. Once you’ve made a note of the bad transaction, your job is to then use this particular customer experience as the example of the picture you do not want to paint for your future green people. You just have to learn from the experience and do your best to make sure you do better next time. It’s rare that a blue customer could ever be anything but a blue. So don’t worry about trying to regroup them. However, it’s important that you agree to settle your differences somehow so you don’t have to conduct hours of unproductive damage control. Don’t let one rotten apple spoil the bunch. Simply put it aside and let it die on its own.
Let the horrid smell of the rotting apple be your reminder to better steer your customers in the direction you envision them being.
Steering people green will keep you in the race for an eternity.
Michael Paul Valentine, "The Plan Doctor", is the C.E.O. of 7APES Consulting, Inc. (www.7apes.com). "The Plan Doctor" is a contributing writer to www.mekkadon.blogspot.com and is part of the "Legal" Hustler Movement.
