One of our very first clients was a small shopping centre who was looking to provide some customer service training for its retailers. The manager had already contacted a larger training company, but had been told that the project was too small. Good news for us. We were, needless to say, pretty hungry and nothing was too small for us at that stage of our business. We gave it everything we had and then some.
Fast-forward 26 years (yikes, time flies!). The manager of that “small” client is now COO of a large national corporation – one which would most certainly not be referred to as a ‘small’ customer. And over the years, every time we would get a call from a company she was with, I’d find myself reflecting on our first meeting. I also wonder if the original training company that turned her down, now defunct, ever understood the mistake they made.
The lesson is simple. The dollar-value of our customers is irrelevant to how we should treat them. Aside from the fact that it’s just the right thing to do, it is also, ultimately, the profitable thing to do. Profitable, not just for your company, but for you as well. You never know when someone is going to change companies or get a promotion. You never know who they are talking to, and what influence they really have. You never know when they might be hiring…
It’s a lesson we should never forget: Give each customer everything you’ve got – always.
“When you help your customers grow and flourish, they will ultimately do the same for you”
2 Responses
Thank you Diana – that means a lot to me!
So very true. Thank you Shaun for sharing the story.