Lie #9: 'All customers are to be treated as demi-gods'
Some of us kill ourselves trying to do this AFTER the sale, which is fine. Except... some customers simply *are not worth the effort.*
What are the 'bottom 10%' of your customers like?
--They beat you up on prices
--They pay late
--They expect special treatment
--They're rude
--They don't respect your boundaries.
Well today I'm giving you permission to FIRE them. Get them off your back, once and for all.
Most customers will be shocked when you fire them. But you'll be amazed at the liberating feeling and the renewed self-respect you have when you establish rules and stick to them. And when your other customers find out that you have enough self respect to give problem customers the boot, they'll respect you more, too.
Consider this:
Former CEO of GE Jack Welch had a policy of getting rid of the bottom 10% of employees every year. Controversial? Absolutely. Did some really good employees fall victim to 'corporate politics'? No doubt that happened, too.
But was it effective? Yes, it was.
It sounds harsh, and certainly it's an unpleasant policy for everyone involved, at least at the moment. But think about it -- don't you figure the poorest performing 10% of people in a company probably belong somewhere else anyway?
And... don't you figure your competitors need your worst customers more than you do? That IS an excellent strategy, by the way. Distract your competitors from good customers by sending 'em bad ones.
Some of us kill ourselves trying to do this AFTER the sale, which is fine. Except... some customers simply *are not worth the effort.*
What are the 'bottom 10%' of your customers like?
--They beat you up on prices
--They pay late
--They expect special treatment
--They're rude
--They don't respect your boundaries.
Well today I'm giving you permission to FIRE them. Get them off your back, once and for all.
Most customers will be shocked when you fire them. But you'll be amazed at the liberating feeling and the renewed self-respect you have when you establish rules and stick to them. And when your other customers find out that you have enough self respect to give problem customers the boot, they'll respect you more, too.
Consider this:
Former CEO of GE Jack Welch had a policy of getting rid of the bottom 10% of employees every year. Controversial? Absolutely. Did some really good employees fall victim to 'corporate politics'? No doubt that happened, too.
But was it effective? Yes, it was.
It sounds harsh, and certainly it's an unpleasant policy for everyone involved, at least at the moment. But think about it -- don't you figure the poorest performing 10% of people in a company probably belong somewhere else anyway?
And... don't you figure your competitors need your worst customers more than you do? That IS an excellent strategy, by the way. Distract your competitors from good customers by sending 'em bad ones.
So go ahead -- Make my day. Get rid of the bottom 5-10% of your customers every year.
Make a list of people who drain your resources and damage your morale, and get rid of them.
Original Source: Perry Marshall
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