Friday, March 29, 2013

Can customers be bad? 2

Now this is funny! As soon as we become customers to someone, we completely forget all our complaints, woes and bad experiences. We immediately start behaving exactly like those customers of ours who we curse after every phone call or visit, with our "vendors" ! How weird is that?

Someone needs to change the motion of wheel here and break this cycle. 


The company where I started my career, I was taught to consider a supplier as a partner, because without him (whoever it is) we can't function.

A while back I walked out of meeting with a prospective client because he kept me waiting for 45 mins at a coffee shop. Later on, he sent me a mail saying "this kind of a behavior I don't accept from a VENDOR".

Would I work with such people ever? No. Simply because if he is like this Now, I am sure he is going to make my life miserable once we start our business.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Can customers be bad?

Yes, indeed they can be. The first lesson I learnt at the beginning of my career 17 years ago was to be able to walk out of a meeting with a customer if he fails to treat you respectfully. My mentor explained "your attitude towards yourself shall force your customers to take you seriously and respectfully. otherwise, they know you are just one of those "vendors" who can be replaced anytime they want. However, breaking a partnership is not that easy. and to be considered a partner in solving their problems, they would first have to respect you."

This philosophy has saved me a plenty of time. And this is the foundation of building long term relationships with the customers, which we term as Customer Friendship. Because at the end of the day friendship happens only among equals.

So, be ruthless in throwing away any rotten eggs in your kitty, they not only spoil others but also stink.