Train your customers, not just your staff

My company prides itself on being investors in people. Not in the traditional, get a certificate and brag to all your mates type way, just in it's strong belief in training.

Each member of the team has the chance to learn about what goes on elsewhere in the company. It's incredibly useful, because by gaining an understanding of what people in other departments do, we can all work more closely together to create the best possible customer experience.

Trouble is, there's one person in that chain of command that a lot of companies don't bother to train at all. Have you figured out who it is yet? Oh come on, it's written in the flipping title of this thing, I mean it's not like I'm trying to make this difficult!

That's right genius, the customer. How many of you actually take the time to train your customers? More importantly, how does that training work?

You see, in any given day, there will be people that make requests of you which you would prefer to politely decline. Well, I say "politely", because sometimes you would just rather be plain rude, but common sense usually steps in to save you.

None the less, you do what you can to help and right there is where the problem begins. Your customer now has an expectation of you. They know that you're prepared to jump through hoops every time they call because they are the customer and you are oh so grateful for their business.

Except if you were to be truly honest, you're not grateful. The time you spend adhering to their near impossible requests is not matched by the amount of money that they're spending with you. It's just not fair to expect these things of you, but they do. Trouble is, it's not really their fault is it? No, it's your fault, and it's because you didn't train them.

Be honest, how scary is it really to have to tell a customer that if something has a three week lead time that needing it within 4 days really makes no difference. You're the expert here - if you think it can be done, then do your best to do it, but if your years of experience tells you it can't then simply tell your customer that this is the case.

Similarly, if a client expects you to run around all afternoon producing reams of quotes with no real focus or direction, take the time to explain to them that you would first like to get their focus in place before you put in all of the work.

Ultimately, the people who take umbrage with such a response are not really serious customers. You're not losing business because the business was not there in the first place.

But what about the good customers who need you to go the extra mile? Well of course you should, but at least make sure that they know and appreciate what you've done for them and that you would really rather not make a habit of it.

Are we still working in a world where people believe that the customer is always right? Yes they are the life blood of your business, so why not treat them as an intrinsic member of your team and train them on how things work around there. They will thank you for it and in the long run will undoubtedly put more business your way.

Think about it, when you wanted to get their business you took the time to learn about their operation. Now that you're partners, shouldn't that information flow both ways?

When they understand and respect you, the headaches just melt away and work becomes easy. You know what you need from them and more importantly, so do they.

Simple really, isn't it? Have a good week.


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