Your Ego or Your Customer? What's More Important?

Do yourself a favor. Talk to you customers. Ask them what they think. By asking your customers, you are doing the best survey possible. You are also building up a relationship with your customer. And besides, "Who's really the Boss?"

The real point is: What kind of experiences are your customers having at your center and what effect is this having on the profits you are or are not making? More importantly, if your customers are having bad experiences, what internal factors need to be analyzed and corrected in order to give your customers the service they are demanding these days?

Customer service ultimately reverts back to key processes in your organization that are either working efficiently or not. If a job is not delivered according to schedule, then systems in production are definitely not in place or not being followed. If the quality is lacking, then your products are not making your customer say, "I love it". If a customer was promised one thing and given another, then your organization becomes known for not living up to its promises. If the counter person doesn't acknowledge customers as soon as they walk in the door, the unfriendly attitude affects the customer. This list can go on and on. The point is that everything that happens within your organization affects your customer service. You as the owner are the only one who can find out what your customers truly want and think. It is up to you to make sure that the customer is getting all the value possible from each and every transaction.

But you cannot find out what is really going wrong and fix it if you continue to keep your ego in the forefront of everything that you do. Input from employees, customers, other owners and outside sources provide valuable insights. If your ego is under control, then you can at least give these opinions and suggestions a clean shot at dealing head on with your customer and employee issues. Remember the entire cycle revolves around people - you, your employees and your customers. It's up to you, the owner, to keep those lines of communication open and to lead your company to success.

This blog was originally published in the newsletter "TG's Notes". For a free subscription to "TG's Notes" , click here.