“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” Zig Ziglar
With all the overbearing, obnoxious and self-serving people in our society, it is not surprising that some try to become entrepreneurs. However, because of the way they regard and treat their fellows, their ventures soon collapse. Or, if they are lucky and launch the right business at the right time, their arrogance and disdain for everyone else is reinforced – failure just takes a little longer.
Recently I wrote a column on employee rudeness, explaining how such behavior will undermine your efforts to succeed. If you have any such employees, you owe it to the comfort of your family to weed out these destructive workers before they contaminate your business. Just as bad news travels faster than good, bad attitudes quickly poison positive employees.
But the right staff is only the start. All of your employees, regardless of position or job, must learn to appreciate the role and relationship of customers spending their dollars with you and your ability to issue paychecks. One of your leadership roles is the training of your employees. It is foolhardy to assume all experienced help are customer conscious. Think of employee training as continuous education, so necessary, as your customers, products, technology, and buying habits are always changing and so must you and your company. If you do otherwise, you are inviting survival problems.
Attracting customers and attracting success depends on your attitude. If you are overconfident with an attitude of “shop elsewhere if you don’t like my price or service,” you are going to be a lonely entrepreneur. But you do not have to be. A well known business writer, Joe Griffith, penned this list of customer care commandments that sums up what all of us need to understand and appreciate about the “wining and dining of those who pay our bills.
Your customers are the most important people in your business.
They are not dependent on you; you are dependent on them.
They do not interrupt your work; they are the purpose of it.
They do us a favor when they call; we are not doing them a favor.
They are not statistics, but fellow humans with feelings and emotions.
They are part of our business, not outsiders.
They are not someone to match wits with or argue with.
They bring us their wants; it is our job to satisfy these wants.
They deserve the most courteous and attentive treatment we can give.
They are the lifeblood of our business.
Not a word there that is not common sense, yet often ignored by many “wannabe” entrepreneurs who will be quick to blame the world when they fail. If you doubt the value of customer relations to your prosperity, contrast the customer service of a successful business with some of our government agencies that are shielded from the market and competition. The difference is striking – from: “how may I help you?” to “don’t bother me and if you do, be quick about it.” People want to do business with those who want to do business” is a favorite personal reminder to me that customer care is critical and crucial to the success of any business – unless you are lucky enough to have a monopoly.
Article – Copyright 2002 Dr. Paul E. Adams. Syndicated by Paradigm News, Inc.
