What's a Customer Worth Now-a-days?

How Many Can You Afford to Fire?

Call me naive. Tell me I just don't understand. Ask me what planet I'm from but I just don't get it. From what I've been reading lately there are companies out there who are actually firing customers. Yes, imagine that. Firing customers! I just don't get it.It's tough enough finding and keeping them never mind firing them.

Participants attending either my Exceptional Customer Service or Golden Rule Sales workshops often ask me, "How do I get and or keep customers coming back?" "What's the secret to getting our staff to care as much as we do about our customers?" Sales professionals are always asking me, "How do we build strong customer relationships?" "What are some great questions to ask to help uncover my clients real needs?" I must admit that I haven't yet been asked, "What's the best tactic to use when you want to fire a customer?"

Now don't get me wrong, I do agree that the amount of money you spend to attract or service a customer needs to be in proportion to the rate of return on that investment. But isn't that why they invented the telephone or fax machine?. You wouldn't want to spend more money servicing a customer's account then you get back in orders, etc. or would you? Here's a case in point.

My Uncle owned and operated a small manufacturing company in Ontario, Canada. He's since deceased, but the family still owns and operates the business. He received an inquiry one day from a company out of Chicago, so being the astute businessperson that he was, he called the company to answer their question in the hopes that it would generate an order. Unfortunately it didn't, but my Uncle added the contact information to his mailing list. Without fail, my Uncle would mail them his monthly flyer, phone the client now-and-again, and always made himself available to answer any questions the client had.

This went on for years and for years, my Uncle never got an order from that company. That did not deter my Uncle because he figured that perhaps one day it might generate an order or that an acquaintance of that company might require his services and they just might pass on his name and contact information. The long and the short of the story is that the client passed away. Upon hearing of the news my Uncle sent flowers and his condolences to the client's daughter expressing his heart felt sorrow at her loss. The daughter wrote my Uncle back and thanked him for the flowers and thoughtful message and invited him to put in a proposal for a custom order that her fathers company was bidding on.

Her father had mentioned my Uncle to her and of the relationship they had built up over the years. The daughter never forgot that conversation and the mutual respect they shared for each other. As President of the company she was now in a position to repay my Uncles kindness and awarded him the contract. My Uncles company is still doing business with that company out of Chicago.

What's the lesson here? It's not the initial sale it's the long-term relationships that you build with your clients that will continue to pay dividends down the road. When you are calculating what a customer is worth be sure to take everything into account. How much spin-off will each customer generate? How many customers can you afford to fire?

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