Creating and maintaining the right personal image for you and your company

Here are some myths that many people still believe in -

• customers are always right

• a customer will be pleased when s/he receives a birthday card from a supplier

• giving discounts is a way to create long term relationship with a customer

These are just a very short list of customer service myths. The myths show that people are absolutely afraid of losing their clients. It is understable - afterall, without clients, businesses do not have sales, and without sales, a business is no business.

There is nothing more loathesome than customers who are spoiled. I remember at a work place, I took a telephone call for the owner from a very good customer. I asked her to leave a message, she did. I asked for her phone number - she repeated her name - as if the whole world should know her, and that the owner would know her phone number. The time she has spent tellling me these things is actually longer than the time she would have spent telling me her phone number. This, is a small example of what a spoiled customer is. I remember that whenever she came into the place of business, the owner would act as if she was the queen, and always lavished her with compliments - compliments that I think were at least half lies.

How would you, as a sales person or a business owner, behave if the fear of losing customer no longer exist? Perhaps these are some of the changes -

• the business will be more profitable because you now "fire" bad clients who take up your time and money - bad clients sometimes end up costing you more than what they pay you for

• perhaps some clients actually become your friends. They are true friends if they remain your friends even if they switch suppliers. You know that you are only being nice to keep them as customers if they leave you for another. Without the fear of losing clients, you no longer have a second agenda when you make friends with them

• your co-workers will be less stressed by your constant need to monitor their work in progress. I know through working in different industries that most sales people have conflicts with production people - sales people want to be sure that the products are finished on time, while the production people have their own production schedule to meet.
  

In my experience, the suppliers whom I am loyal to are not the ones who spoil me, give me birthday cards or gifts, or behave in ingratiating manners. They have these characteristics in common:

• they provide consistent services or products - no change from the first purchase to the next, unless it is changes for the better

• they are not pushy salespeople - I tell them what I want. They may tell me what they suggest, but do not push further when I let them know why I don't need it

• they are honest - if something isn't good for me, they let me know, even if that something is an offering from their business

In the end, while we are all here to make a living, I highly agree with doing business in an honest way - this includes not to lie to customers. People who believe in the above listed myths usually aren't completely honest with themselves - and some research show that when we are not honest, our bodies produce illnesses and discomfort. I think the best way is to offer what you have in a way that you can do it, without the fear of losing clients.