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The Golden Rule instructs us to treat other people in the ways we’d like to be treated.

But that assumes everyone else would have to want exactly what we want, doesn’t it?

Personally, I love a good discussion. I enjoy the differences in perception that bring people to different conclusions. I have a friend who considers this arguing, and finds it offensive. She prefers for everyone to “get along” and say only positive, reaffirming statements, or to say nothing.

So, if I treat her as I’d like to be treated, challenging her conclusions, she would likely consider that to be a most unfriendly thing to do.

The Golden Rule has a variant in business called Exceed Customer Expectations.

Unfortunately too many small businesses try to exceed expectations in ways that are easy for the business. Just because its convenient for the business owner, (or better yet, cheap) doesn’t mean your customer will think kindly of your effort.

Exceeding Customer Expectations doesn’t count if its not something your customers want.

When your customer picks up his order, will he really appreciate the laminated wallet sized 2007 calendar with your business name on it? Yes, you got a great price. Yes, people need calendars. No, this doesn’t count as Exceeding Customer Expectations.

How could you treat customers in ways that are easy, meaningful, and convenient for them?

Ask. Then listen to their answers.

That’s why Enterprise Rent A Car brings the car to you. They understand that when you need a car you probably also need a ride to get to the rental place. Avis, Alamo, or Hertz could have just as easily come up with this benefit if they had been talking to their customers.

Why do you suppose Washington Mutual doesn’t charge for WaMu checking accounts? Trust me, they’re more than making up for the loss of those small fees by using the float on all of the cash deposited in all of the new accounts opened by people who like no fee checking.

So here’s my recommendation: ask one simple question to your customers. “What do you hate about (my business category)?” Not “What do you hate about ABC Printing,” but “What do you hate about printers?”

When people tell you they hate that print shops are notoriously late delivering printing, you know exactly how to Exceed Customer Expectations in a way that’s easy, meaningful, and convenient for your customers.

Imagine the reputation you’d create by always delivering your customers’ printing a day or two early. That’s exactly how companies like MyCreativeShop do it!

Listen to your customers.

Anticipate their desires. Provide personal, added value service. And watch them move more business to you as they grow to trust you with all of it.

Your Guide,
Chuck McKay

Your Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay, gets people to buy more of what you sell.

Got questions about what people hate, or at least resent, about your business category? Drop Chuck a note at ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com. Or call him at 317-2073-0028.

Two miles north of Willison, North Dakota is the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and U.S. Highway 52. Like many communities over the years the downtown area with its small buildings and limited parking has stagnated as business has moved to that intersection north of town.

But, at the time in question, circa 1968, the only business at that intersection was Keenan’s Restaurant. Keenan’s was an old fashioned drive in, with car hops who brought your order to your car on a tray that suspended from the driver’s window. The menu ranged from basic burgers and fries to “21 shrimp in a basket.”

Remember, to get to Keenan’s it was necessary to drive two miles away from the city center and every other restaurant in town. People didn’t just drive by and pull in on a whim.

At that time the hottest chain restaurant in the midwest was the Country Kitchen. One of their stores went in next door to Keenan’s. Comparatively it was huge, with seating for 90, which made it even bigger than the truck stop restaurant on the other side of town.

People flocked to the new place. During peak periods the long line of waiting folks spilled from the lobby, through the front door, and wrapped partially around the building.

The conventional wisdom spelled “doom” for Keenan’s. Who would want to stay in their own cars instead of being served as welcome guests in a brand new comfortable, restaurant with much broader menu choices?

Still, there was that long line of people.

As much as people are willing to stand in line for an unusual experience (think Disney), each repetition of that experience makes standing in line less appealing for most of us.

It didn’t take long for hungry diners, having driven that far out of town, to see the line, look at Keenan’s half empty parking lot, and say “You know, Keenan’s food always was pretty good.“

Instead of losing business, Keenan’s thrived with the new competitor next door.

So, a new competitor doesn’t mean loss of business?

It certainly can. Much of that possibility depends on the way the legacy business responds to the newcomer.

Its too easy to blame forces outside our control for any decline in business. And, to the extent that we, as business owners, assume we’re helpless against circumstances, we will be.

Suppose you operate an office supply store, and another office supply store opens across the street. If you do nothing, it is likely that your revenues (and profits) will decline.

But suppose you welcomed the new competition as an additional traffic source for your store? Would that change the way you operate?

This is why car dealerships tend to locate next to one another. In the mind of the shopper, isn’t it easier to compete with two or three other dealerships next door and across the street, than with a dozen scattered all over town? And aren’t people more likely to comparison shop when you make it easy.

Does any dealership actually sell a car to even half of the prospective buyers who visit their lot? Humm. So, just by being convenient, another dealership will benefit from all of the non-sales next door.

How do your customers see you reacting?

Knowing you’re being compared to a direct competitor should help you to focus on providing a better shopping experience for your existing customers. That will make your company more attractive to prospective customers as well.

But a business owner who places the blame for changing conditions as outside his control is surrendering power. The very act of assuming he has no control reduces his ability to compete.

He has total control over conditions inside his business. He has control over his staff and their efficiency. He has control over the level of care and attention his customers feel. He has control over his inventory. He even has control over his own marketing messages.

Are you facing new competition? Your time and focus must be occupied by those things you can control. Do it well, and watch your business (and your bottom line) improve over the way things were when you “owned” your location.

Your Guide,
Chuck McKay

Your Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay, gets people to buy more of what you sell.

Got questions about the conditions under your control? Drop Chuck a note at ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com. Or call him at 317-2073-0028.

Years ago, while I was conducting sales training classes, I noticed that the attendees eyes all glazed over at the same point in the training. There were two ways I could have reacted.

I could have said “Why do I keep getting the stupid trainees?” Or, I could have said, “I need to re-write this material.”

I chose “B.”

When I changed “This is a mutually beneficial marketing opportunity,” to “This deal is good for both of us,” I saw their heads nod in agreement.

But, please notice I simplified the vocabulary, not the concepts. That’s an important point, because your prospects are smarter than you’ve been giving them credit for being.

How many times have you heard it said that to be successful your ads, your brochures, your instructions should be written at an eighth grade level? Have you interpreted that as “write for dumb people?”

You shouldn’t.

Talk to people in the words they use.

Its been demonstrated that the average adult in the U.S. Has a vocabulary in excess of 30,000 words, but uses fewer than 1,000 in daily conversation. My own experience with small children and adults who are learning English as a second language indicates that meaningful conversation can occur with approximately 300 words.

So, which words should you choose for communication with you prospects and customers? The simple words. The short, unambiguous, commonly used and easily understandable words. The words they use everyday in other conversations.

But don’t dumb down what you need to say. That makes for poor communication, too.

Earlier this week I read (again) how important it is to keep communications to arbitrary lengths. A press release must be no more than 360 words. A blog post no more than 170. No article or essay to be posted on the web should exceed 800 words. Why? Because people won’t stay focused for more than three or four minutes. At least, that’s the theory.

And yet, we still have bestsellers lists of novels, business books, technical instruction – how many of them run more than 300 words? No kidding? All of them (he asked, his virtual voice dripping with sarcasm)? Most have three hundred times that many. And people keep buying (and reading) them.

These people who won’t stay focused for more than a few minutes are still purchasing movie tickets, watching televised sporting events, and attending lectures. They’re buying and reading magazines, and learning to speak other languages (with vocabularies in excess of 300 words, no doubt).

Let me propose an alternate theory.

People have short attention spans when you’re boring them.

If you have to limit your blog posts to 170 words its because at an average reading rate that’s the limit of people’s attention spans to badly written communications. If you can’t hold the attention of a reader for more than 360 words, its probably because you have nothing to say, you’re saying it badly, or you’re not expressing yourself in the words that make for easy conversation.

People’s attention spans aren’t limited to three or four minutes when what you have to say is meaningful. People are just not willing to be bored.

So, how do you stay interesting? There’s no getting around that you have to write about things your audience wishes to read about. But, assuming your content might be meainingful, when you have the choice, choose Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin words.

Choose “let,” rather than “permit.” Choose “make” instead of “manufacture.” They’re easier to spell and easier to understand. They are the words people naturally use in their own conversations. As Winston Churchill said “Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.”

Richard Lederer, in The Case for Short Words, said “Short words are bright like sparks that glow in the night, prompt like the dawn that greets the day, sharp like the blade of a knife, hot like salt tears that scald the cheek, quick like moths that flit from flame to flame, and terse like the dart and sting of a bee.”

Emotionally powerful, isn’t it? And yet, these are words the average three-year-old understands.

Did you notice that every one of those words was a single syllable long? Did you feel the writer had “dumbed it down?” Or could you actually feel that sharp blade and those salty tears?

Effective Communications.

If you have something to say, say it succinctly, say it emotionally, say it in ways that maximize understanding. Say it in simple, direct words. They are the shortest distance between two minds. And use as many words as it takes to make your point.

If you have nothing to say, by all means limit yourself to 170 words.

Your Guide,
Chuck McKay

Your Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay, gets people to buy more of what you sell.

Got questions about communicating in the way people wish to communicate? Drop Chuck a note at ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com. Or call him at 317-2073-0028.

For years I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a book on common sense market research and analysis. There’s no longer any need for me to do so, since Doug Hubbard has already written it.

How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of “Intangibles” in Business by Douglas W. Hubbard will change the way you look at what you don’t know, because of what you do know.

According to Hubbard, it’s all about uncertainty reduction, which is the basis for all exact science. How much do you know now? Express it in terms that represent your uncertainty.

Hubbard calls his studies Applied Information Economics. People who hire him are eager to understand exactly how to calculate the values of an intangible – customer satisfaction, the value of public health, or the financial risk in a new IT investment, for instance.

Applied Information Economics is showing up in the most interesting places. The U.S. Marine Corps, for instance, hired Hubbard to create a way to forecast fuel requirements for battle, which is presently being used in the war in Iraq. Hubbard’s methodology reduced their previous forecasting error by more than half.

I like this book for much the same reason that I enjoyed Freakonomics: the key to finding the answer you seek is in asking the right question. Chapter two – Eratosthenes, Enrico & Emily – is my favorite chapter, probably because he quotes from one of my own Wizard of Ads ^® case studies.

Who’d have thought that you can measure customer satisfaction, or the value of happiness?

If you’ve ever wondered how much to charge for a product, or whether your branding campaign is generating a positive ROI, you’re going to enjoy How To Measure Anything.

Your Guide,
Chuck McKay

Your Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay, gets people to buy more of what you sell.

Got questions about gathering information about your market and competitors? Drop Chuck a note at ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com. Or call him at 317-2073-0028.

A number of years ago, I wrote a business plan for a blues band, of which I was the bass player. When I took a job in a community across the country, I re-wrote the plan, wrote some marketing materials which explained the music we played, and started working the plan and seeking bookings for my new band.

I also started interviewing musicians.

A guitarist that seemed to be a good choice told me that I was either trying to scam potential employers, or was an idiot. “You can’t book a band that doesn’t exist,” Jim insisted.

I asked how many gigs he’d been paid for in the last year. “Well,” he said, “I’m still having trouble finding the right musicians.”

“But Jim, you’ve been trying to form your own band and rehearsing with various musicians for… how long,” I asked? “Two years? No kidding? Two years with no pay at all. Do you think that you could learn some classic blues songs if I give you the lead sheets? You already know those songs? Great. Then a couple of run throughs with the rest of the band should be enough to get you comfortable. We have six paying gigs lined up. They pay seventy bucks, each. Wanna play?”

I was reminded of this incident in a conversation with an Elvis fan.

The fan explained Colonel Tom Parker had been charging 50 percent of Elvis’ income for managing the star. The fan believed that the Colonel had taken advantage of Elvis. Apparently its a commonly held belief. “Where would he have been if he hadn’t been lucky enough to hook up with Elvis,” the fan wanted to know?

I know exactly where he’d be.

It helps to understand who Colonel Tom was. The Colonel was born Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk in June of 1909 in Breda, Netherlands, the fifth of eleven children. After graduating from high school, he relocated to the U.S. and volunteered for the U.S. Army. Following his discharge he changed his name to Tom Parker, lived as a hobo, and joined the circus as a carny for Royal Amusement Shows.

In the early 1940s he worked as an ASPCA dog catcher, and pet cemetery proprietor in Tampa, Florida. As a dogcatcher, Parker put his circus training to use. He gathered the pups from several dogs, placed them all with one mother, and called a reporter from the Tribune to report a single dog had just given birth to 21 puppies. Apparently he did this more than once, and got press each time.

His first job as a show business manager began in 1944 when he took over the career of country singer Eddie Arnold. By the end of 1947 Arnold had been number one on the country charts for 53 weeks. When Parker and Arnold separated he began booking country star Hank Snow, taking over as Snow’s manager in 1955. He began hiring a Memphis rocker named Elvis Presley as Snow’s opening act.

Presley was unhappy with the direction of his career.

Presley sought Parker’s advice. Parker told the young Presley he could be a star, if he’d hire the Colonel as his manager. Parker also told Presley it would cost him 50 percent of all future income. They couldn’t sign a contract because Elvis was still represented by a man named Bob Neal. They shook hands, and went without a written contract until Presley died in 1977.

As Presley’s “special advisor” Parker negotiated Elvis’ recording contract with RCA Victor, insisting that Elvis would have final choice of all of the songs on the album. In 1956 Elvis ended his relationship with Neal, and Parker officially became Presley’s personal manager. By the end of their first year together the Wall Street Journal noted that Elvis had grossed $22 million in merchandise sales alone. (Another bit of circus influence, no doubt).

It was Parker who landed Presley in all of those Hal Wallace movies in the 60s. It was Parker who came up with the idea of soundtrack albums from those films, which Elvis fans snapped up as fast as they were released.

When popular music had changed, and the public had seemingly grown tired of Presley, Parker promoted Elvis’ sagging career through the first worldwide performance via satellite. That particular show was seen by one and a half BILLION people in 40 countries, returning Presley’s status as a top concert draw, and keeping him at the top until his death.

So, to answer the fan’s question, where would Parker have been without Elvis? He’d have been taking some other performer to the top.

The Colonel wasn’t lucky to have found Elvis. Elvis was lucky to have found the Colonel.

Let’s change gears for a moment.

Pretend that you’ve been selling your widget for $10 each. Along comes Sammy Salesweasel, who offers you $15 each for all you can supply him with.

Do you care who he’s selling them to? Does it matter how much he sells them for? If he can sell them for $50 each in a new market that he’s developed, doesn’t he deserve the profit? Especially since you’re now even more profitable?

One of my clients sells his service from his web site. He has an “affiliate program,” in which other sites sell his service and keep 65 percent of the revenue. Is this fair? Is it unfair? Are they sales he could have generated on his own?

My client believes 35 percent of sales he’d never have had to be pure profit. By letting the affiliate keep twice as much money as he keeps himself, he gets a highly motivated affiliate selling his service.

So here’s the lesson.

The lesson from the affiliate program, from Elvis’ relationship with the Colonel, and even from Chuck’s blues band is simple: Don’t begrudge the marketer.

The critical question isn’t “what’s my percentage? The question you should be asking is, “What’s my return on investment?”

When you find someone who can make you money, count the dollars deposited into your bank account, the dollars it cost you to produce, and do the math.

Is 85 percent of “not much” better than 50 percent of “a lot?”

Your Guide,
Chuck McKay

Your Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay, gets people to buy more of what you sell.

Got questions about finding new markets for what you sell? Drop Chuck a note at ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com. Or call him at 317-2073-0028.

Warren Buffet is the world’s most successful investor. Probably because of two personal characteristics that come close to defining his investing philosophy.

He doesn’t diversify.

And he refuses to “hedge his bets.”

You’ll note Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings are in fewer than three dozen companies, spread over a very few industries.

Although I’ve never spoken to Mr. Buffet, I have read several analyses of his investment strategies. I’m told he doesn’t worry about diversification, because he heavily researches each investment. Hedging his bets by spreading the risk between additional companies would actually increase his risk, by forcing him to select companies less likely to succeed.

Isn’t there an advertising investment parallel here?

Why, yes. Yes, there is.

Spreading the budget between as many opportunities as you can afford insures that the best you’ll ever get is average.

The likelihood is you won’t even make it to average.

I found a story to illustrate the concept in a book by Anthony Putman called Marketing Your Services. He tells of a farmer whose crops were drying out from lack of rain.

The farmer started digging a well. He dug to 50 feet, gave up and covered up the hole. The next day he chose another location and dug again. By the end of the day he’d again hit the 50 foot mark, gave up, and filled in the hole.

This continued for 17 days before he admitted defeat and sold the farm.

The new buyer dug a well to 50 feet, and stopped for the day. The following day he returned to the same hole, and dug to 80 feet before stopping. On the third day, at 85 feet, he struck water. The water filled the well. That well provided all of the water the crops needed.

The Parallel?

Spending dollars on Google’s AdWords, a few banner ads, on search engine optimization, a small schedule in the newspaper, and a few bucks on a couple of radio stations, and the six o’clock TV news is rather similar to digging new wells, isn’t it?

If any of the media you’re dabbling in might have actually delivered, you’ve already cut off the funding at 50 feet in order to finance a different attempt to reach people.

You can’t afford to keep digging dry wells.

You only need one good source of water, or customers, so long as it’s tapped into an unlimited supply.

So, back to Warren Buffet, who consistently digs deep enough to find water each time he digs. But then, he does the required homework. Its his full-time job. He hires managers to run the companies he buys.

You probably don’t have the resources to hire managers to run your company.

Could you find someone to research and allocate your advertising investments, while you’re fishing for customers?

Your Guide,
Chuck McKay

Your Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay, gets people to buy more of what you sell.

Got questions about allocating marketing budgets? Interestingly, Chuck is well informed on that topic. Drop him a note at ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com. Or call him at 317-2073-0028.

Today we have a story of a group of little guys beating the big guy, an example of an entrepreneur seizing an opportunity, and a marketing lesson all tied up in the same tale.

Act 1:

The backstory begins obliquely in December of 1944. General Maxwell Taylor was absent from the 101st Airborne Division at the time the German Army laid siege to Bastogne. General Taylor’s diplomatic and language skills were required in a secret mission to Rome to coordinate maneuvers with Italian forces.

General Anthony McAuliffe was left as acting Commander when the German XLVIIth Armored Corps surrounded the American forces. General Heinrich von Luettwitz demanded McAuliffe surrender.

McAuliffe sent back his famous one word reply: “NUTS!” A Colonel Harper, who delivered the typed response to the German delegation had to explain the meaning of the word to the Germans. McAuliffe’s forces were able to hold off the siege until the 4th Armored Division arrived to provide reinforcement.

Act 2:

Network television offers programming to attract viewers, then offers access to the viewers to advertisers for cash, which pays the production costs of the programming (and with the right combination of skill and luck, a profit for the shareholders).

When the network execs determine that a program isn’t garnering the audience they expected, it may be moved to a different day or time. When they determine that they can’t make a profit on the show, they cancel it.

And that’s it.

Or is it.

When CBS cancelled Cagney and Lacey in 1983, producer Barney Rosenzweig encouraged fans of the show to start a letter-writing campaign. CBS brought it back, and the show went on to win 14 Emmy’s.

Designing Women did respectably well on Monday nights when it launched in 1986. CBS moved the show several times, finally to Sunday night, where it was dismally received. A viewer campaign saved it from cancellation. CBS returned it to Monday night, where it consistently stayed in the top 20.

Touched by an Angel was cancelled during its first season in 1994. Fans staged a letter-writing campaign. CBS brought it back. The show ran for eight more seasons.

And this year, Jericho became the most recent CBS cancellation, followed by a grassroots campaign to save the series. In its final episode before being cancelled, the enemy offered to let one of the main characters surrender. Quoting General Taylor’s reply to the German army, the character said “Nuts!”

But this time, it wasn’t a letter-writing campaign that was organized to bring the show back.

Act 3:

This time an on-line petition gathered together the “signatures” of thousands of fans. CBS wasn’t impressed. Then, one of the fans contacted Nuts Online, and asked them to Nuts Online offered to take small orders ($5) and package them into larger shipments to be delivered to CBS in New York and Los Angeles.

After 40,000 pounds of nuts were delivered to CBS, the company relented and purchased seven more episodes for a second season.

Epilog:

As you might imagine, the story got a lot of coverage, and each time Nuts Online was mentioned. I suspect we can agree that this quick-thinking entrepreneur received millions of dollars of free publicity for his company.

He was willing to accept minimal or no profit from this promotion, which made it affordable for nearly every fan to participate.

However, Braverman will probably make a significant follow up profit from the huge opt-in mailing list he’s compiled.

Can you apply Braverman’s example to your business?

Can you support a worthy cause? Will you send press releases and interviews? Are you willing to compile a mailing list and follow up after the promotion, consider joint ventures, and cross marketing opportunities?

Congratulations. You may be on your way to the kind of publicity that makes some companies look “lucky.”

Now, start looking for your promotional tie-in.

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The Lovely Mrs. McKay is a crafty person. Not crafty in the sense that she plots and schemes, but rather in the sense that she crafts things. Usually decorative household items. She’s also an accomplished seamstress, and loves making costumes.

Last week she was on a mission: there was a particular fabric she needed to sew a costume for our eldest granddaughter. I was drafted as the pilot, navigator, and sidekick for this adventure.

We set out to find the nearby Major Craft Store. Because we were somewhat new in the community, we’d never visited it before. We had been told it was about 40 miles away.

Taking my role as navigator seriously, I called information for the store’s number, and then phoned for directions.

They hung up on me.

OK, it could have been a mistake.

I called back, and again asked for directions.

This time they put me on hold. Four long, awkward, cell-phone minutes passed. I think the stubborn gene I inherited from my maternal grandfather had already kicked in by the time I hung up and redialed.

This time I asked “Would you page any customer who lives in the neighborhood to come to the phone?”

The employee on the other end was confused. I repeated my request. “Since none of you seem to be able to explain your location, please ask anyone in the store who doesn’t work there to direct me.”

The clerk placed me on hold. It took two more minutes for the manager to get to the phone.

I explained that I was driving on the Federal Interstate Highway System, and merely needed directions which might include the correct exit, and any necessary thoroughfares that would lead me to his fine establishment.

He apologized, and gave me very simple directions: next exit, two zigs and a zag to his parking lot.

We arrived to minimal fanfare.

After roughly 20 minutes of searching, the Lovely Mrs. McKay determined they didn’t have the fabric. Disappointedly, we left.

Although this is the end of my story, its not today’s point.

Today’s point involves customer contact.

We live in a time of plenty. Neither supply or distribution is a problem. Today you not only have competitors on the next block, but also on several other continents. People will do business with you, if they choose to.

Only if they choose to.

And people tend to choose to do business where they’re made to feel important.

How important do your customers feel?

Most owners and managers know how important each customer is. When the boss is in, most employees offer pretty good customer service. But how do your employees handle shoppers when you’re not there?

Try this: call your own company, and listen. Don’t place the calls yourself, since your voice is likely recognizable by your staff. Have someone else place the call, and listen in.

One of my clients, after conducting this exercise, fired one employee and gave another a raise. Another discovered that when his night mode voice mail was on, there was literally no way to leave a message.

Its no secret that people are suspicious of advertising.

The first time the actions of your employees contradict the message in your ads shoppers determine you to be a liar. And many times the first actual contact shoppers have with your company is the telephone.

Would you do business with your own company, if the impression you got on the phone was all you had to go by?

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I need a new hair cutter.

Oh, the one I’m using now is very good. She gives me the most consistently great cuts I believe I’ve ever had. She doesn’t charge too much, is reasonably available. She has a fun personality.

But I’m kinda looking, just the same.

Why am I dissatisfied?

For the last thirty years I’ve seen the same process every time I get my hair cut. The cutter wraps some spongy paper around my neck, pulls an apron up tight, cuts and trims, unties the apron, removes the paper, then picks up a blower and BLOWS THE LITTLE SHARDS OF HAIR CLIPPINGS DOWN MY SHIRT. I also found some Hair Bundles Near Me that I contemplated on for some time and later bought, which was indeed beneficial in case of immediate requirements.

I’m pretty much forced at that point to stop my day, go home, and shower just to make the itching stop.

You know, I’ve mentioned to every person who’s picked up a pair of scissors that they should trade in the blower for a shop vac, and remove the hair instead of hiding it inside my shirt where it will itch all the way to the shower.

Every one of them has listened to me complain, nodded in agreement, and then waited for their “complaining customer” to leave the shop so they can say what they really think of him.

“Snort. He expects us to change the way we work, just for him.”

Yes.

Yes, I do.

And eventually, I’m going to start actively searching for a new cutter.

The cost of change includes risk.

I’ve mentioned before that sometimes people do business with us because it’s too much trouble, or too much expense, to switch suppliers.

In this case, it’s fear. Fear that I’m going to hate the next haircut.

So, I schedule my hair appointments late in the day, and keep going back to a service provider that annoys me with each purchase.

But imagine the ads I could create for anyone willing to change the way she works, just for the customer who asked for the change. Do you think that ad could be compelling enough to induce you to risk one haircut?

Are there customers that you’re annoying with each purchase? With the right promise from a competitor, they’re gone. Listen to them, now.

A customer complaint is valuable. Treat those complaining customers as if your business depends on making them happy. Either that, or be vulnerable to the first competitor who does.

Oh, one more thing: If you know someone who cuts hair anywhere near Huntington, West Virginia, and owns a vacuum cleaner, drop me her (or his) name. I’m going to make that kid a star.

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