The Customer is always right…
The Customer is King..
You have to listen to me.. I’m your customer…
This is my street… I’m your customer…
Ok the fourth quote is mine..
But when do customers cross a line and become actually dangerous and a threat to the value of your business?
When they become too big and “too big to fail” from an owner’s standpoint – like it did for David in last week’s story.
And how the dynamic changes…
In the beginning, David felt gratitude, appreciation and almost love for this customer that is paying so much attention and spending more and more money.
And this customer soon became 25 then 50% of David’s revenues.
At that point the customer has become the daddy.. He is “paying the rent”…. “buying nice clothes”… and he begins to demand more and more of David’s time.
Special requests becomes more frequent and less special.
And he demands David’s personal attention to what he’s asking.
David gets busier and busier on the key client and begins neglecting the core aspects of the business.
After he delivers to his special daddy, he tries to see if he can offer that same solution to others.
More often than not it’s too specialised to be of any use.
And if they do want it.. they are underimpressed with the quality as David has wandered far from the core competencies of his business.
He has tried to offer a bit of everything to everyone.
Like certain other professions.
And it becomes commoditised… as does his reputation in the market.
According to Dan Kennedy, One is the most dangerous number in business. You don’t want to rely on one customer, one supplier, one employee.
If you find yourself in such a situation you need to escape the streets either by focusing on diversifying and growing your independent customer base or just saying no to those “opportunities” that will suck up your time and focus away from your core solutions.
Own a business and leave the street corner to your competitors.
Thinking About Selling Your Business
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