NFIB

Life's Lessons
08/ 01/ 2004
by Rex Hammock
Editor & Publisher

Most readers of MyBusiness know the old adage about the customer always being right is, well, something only a customer could have dreamed up. Customers are wrong all the time. However, trying to convince a customer he or she is wrong is a fool’s trap. While you may successfully prove the correctness of your point-of-view, you never win an argument with a customer.

That’s why the men and women we interviewed for our story on difficult customers (which begins on pg. 28) rarely let their relationship with customers sink to the level of argument. By then, they say, it’s too late. I know a thing or two about this topic. I’ve won a couple of customer arguments…and lived to regret it. Now, like the small-business owners we feature in this issue, I’ve come to realize that the disgruntled, disapproving customer is typically fuming over something unrelated to me – perhaps even to business. But understanding how to segment the emotional from the pragmatic aspects of our customer relationships is part of the art of business, not the science.

One way to master the whole business-customer relationship is to start honing your customer-handling skills early. At least that’s what we learned when we started talking with successful small- business owners who got the jump on the rest of us by cranking up thriving enterprises back in college, high school or earlier. We got to thinking about this topic when we began following the quest of hundreds of high school seniors seeking one of the 221 scholarships awarded by the NFIB Education Foundation. Heading off to college in a few weeks from now, these enthusiastic students have their hearts and minds set on a future that includes running a small business of their own.

We can think of nothing better to inspire them (and us) on their journeys than the insights of veteran business owners who know a thing or two about being a young entrepreneur and what it takes to navigate the bumps (even when they are customers) along the way.

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