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Customer Satisfaction
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PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to...
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What Kind of Client/Customer Are You, Mr./Ms. Entrepreneur?
Odd question, isn't it?
Not really. The answer to it can determine your success
potential.
The Customer Is Always Right - NOT!
In many cases, you are the customer. Especially when
dealing with other providers, insurance people, your banker,
funding sources and a host of others who help support you in
your business - and personal - activities. And any failure on
your part to be a good client/customer to those suppliers almost
guarantees major problems in your business relationships.
Yet how do you measure up as their customer? Are you the
sort of customer you wish you dealt with every day in
your business? Good Communication? High level of Courtesy?
Professionalism in your relationships? Patience with difficult
situations? Ethics and Integrity? The desire to help everyone to
achieve the best result for all concerned?
How often - if ever - do you even look at any of these areas?
Good Communication
Probably the most critical area of downfall is in communication,
both with your customers and those who supply you. Without
communication, little occurs in business. Without good
communication the very best of business simply cannot
happen.
When you're seeking funding, do you answer all the questions? Do
you work to find out the format in which the funder desires your
information? Do you follow directions? It would be impossible to
tell you the number of times Capital Funds Group has to deal
with these problems. Our major Equity Investment funder, for
instance, has asked that a specific format be used for the
submission of an Executive Summary. Why?, you might ask. The
simple and obvious answer is that like all such investors, they
have to deal with hundreds of submissions monthly. If they are
all in the same format, it is simple to read them quickly,
reject those which don't fit their requirements, or issue
invitations to those which do.
Do you respond quickly? If you receive an email, do you simply
let the funder know you received it and will get the required
information back quickly. A small thing, you might think.
However, when there are dozens to hundreds of deals in the
making, it gets the attention of the funder. "This company knows
how to communicate, how to respond." That means that you'll be
getting just a bit more attention than other companies who fail
in such courtesies. The same can be said, of course, if you do
the same thing with your own customers. Communicate! And quickly.
Courtesy
Business is often very fast nowadays. There is much to do and,
seemingly, little time in which to do it. And, with the advent
of the internet, you may never even hear the voice of your
customer or supplier. Which makes courtesy all the more
important.
No one wants to deal with discourtesy. It unfailiingly puts them
in a bad mood which creates nothing but difficulty for you and
your company. So it means you must take your personal
connections to funders, suppliers, service personnel and, of
course, your customers, very seriously. But it doesn't mean you
need be serious, either. The simple things...the please,
the thank you, the that's very good of you are the
lubricants needed in this hectic business environment. A bit of
humour now and then, when the situation warrants it, can also
help. It's doubly important in emails and other
communication.
And while you may never be meeting your customer, you
will be meeting your funder. And you will
certainly be many steps ahead if you've already established
yourself as a courteous person.
Entrepreneurial Professionalism
Just how professional are you? As an entrepreneur, are you a
risk taker? Are you prepared to shift gears in the middle of
business because a new and better roadway has opened up? Can you
easily adjust to new circumstances, new ways of approaching a
situation? If not, unfortunately, you're really not an
entrepreneur. Risk taking is part and parcel of the meaning of
that word. It's critical in today's world of unceasing change to
be ready to shift plans, move in new directions and be willing
to assume the responsiblity for what may happen. That's the
essences of entrepreneurial professionalism Scary? Sometimes.
But so is most real decision making, another vital
characteristic of an entrepreneur. As the saying goes, "Feel the
fear and do it anyway." That might well be the perfect slogan
for an entrepreneur.
Another mental anchor is "I've already seen that, done that,
thought that." It stops you from looking at what appear to be
"old" situations and perceiving a difference, one which might
bring you to where you wish to be. If you're stuck with such a
belief, an attitude of already knowing all the answers, again
you are not really an entrepreneur.
Ethics and Integrity
Self awareness and the willingness to be brutally honest with
oneself are two other great entrepreneurial traits. Integrity
means "wholeness," being complete in oneself. Not an easy thing
to achieve, by any means, but a worthwhile goal in life. Ethics
is simply understanding "The Rules." Not any rules imposed from
outside yourself, but those you intuitively know are the way to
behave and treat both others and yourself. If you're always
seeking the "upper hand" in a deal, you're not really there to
accomplish a winning situation for everyone, the ultimate
achievement. If you spend your working life trying to be #1, not
as an achievement, but as being "one up" on everyone else,
trying to be noticed and applauded by others, you are truly
seeking a false goal. You have no real integrity because your
value is measured by how others perceive you. If you need or
demand that sort of attention from others, there is no one truly
home inside you. And no business achievement can ever replace
that.
My Suggestion
Take a look again at the list of items I've laid out in this
article. How many of them are "standard" in both your business
and personal life? Where do you think you might improve? Where
might you ask for help in those areas? What books, tapes, CDs or
other sources might you spend some time with, opening yourself
to the personal growth needed to improve in all those areas.
What do you need to do to become the finest client in the world?
Worth thinking about.
About the author:
Mr. Barnes is President & General Manager of Capital Funds Group
Ltd., a Canadian based world wide consulting firm specializing
in Putting Companies and Money Together. They
also work with non-US companies to take them public rapidly and
inexpensively, then getting them funded. Visit our Web
Site
Email Him
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