What does a bad customer look like?

This is part 2 of my review and live trial of the Book Yourself Solid system. If you haven’t been following along, you can catch up by reading my introduction to Book Yourself Solid and why small business owners should read it as well as yesterday’s article about firing your less-than-stellar customers.

Following on from yesterday’s article, the admonition is to ditch your “bad” customers. I already voiced my opinion that unless it’s a really bad working relationship, you should simply look to avoid those types of customers in the future. In order for you do either one though, we need to put a face on what “bad” customers look like.

Michael Port’s book is incredibly practical in that it’s meant to be a workbook - something you follow along and do as opposed to just theory. He’s got exercises to go along with identifying the types of people you want to work with. I’ll use myself as the example (as promised) and do the exercises. You can do the same thing for your small business.

The first step is to identify…

Who Turns You Off or Shuts You Down?

I don’t like it when people can’t or refuse to learn something new. I also can’t stand it when people complain about the status quo but are unwilling to face the fact that they need to change what they are doing to make it better. I also can’t stand it when people have a short fuse or that feel that they need to bully or intimidate to get people to do what they want. I don’t like it when people refuse to use email as a communication tool. People that try to complete my sentences for me, interrupt me when I’m talking all of the time and generally don’t get to the point  during conversations irritate me. I don’t do chit-chat and small talk - sorry. That doesn’t mean that I’m cold and inhuman. On the contrary I feel that I’m warm and inviting and easy to get along with. However, I wont pretend like everybody’s my long lost friend and I hate it when complete strangers do it to me. People that refuse to admit it when they’re wrong or lack the ability to see that they might be the cause of their own problems.

I will politely not do business with anyone who:

• Does not have an email address or never checks theirs if they do
• Is a mean-spirited, hot-headed person
• Lacks a reasonable level of humility
• Is not teachable
• Resists change even if they must
• Doesn’t respect or value my time by being excessively inefficient when communicating
• Acts phony
• Is incapable of being wrong

The next two exercises are asking me to list my current clients that don’t pass this test and make an action item to dump them. Again, I would suggest seeing your current engagements through. And for me, it’s a non-issue anyways for Stage3 since I’m just out of the gates.

Define Your Perfect Client

The next step is define your ideal client by answering a series of questions about them…

What kind of people do you like hanging out with?

I like being around people that are positive and optimistic. I also like being around people that are smart and polite.

What do they like?

The people I like being around like learning and reading. These people try new things.

What do they like to talk about?

The folks I like being with talk about current events, technology, business, books, movies. They don’t talk about the taboo subjects too much (politics and religion…unless they know that we share the same views and beliefs). They do not gossip and they play by mom’s old rule…if you don’t have anything nice/constructive to say, then don’t say anything.

Who do they hang out with?

The people I like being with associate with just about anybody, but mostly stick to a small core of very close friends and business relationships. These people associate with other like-minded folks of course.

What ethics do they have?

They are of course ethical and live by a Judeo-Christian set of rules, whether or not they practice religion of any type. They are not prejudice of race, age or religion. That being said, they can’t be obnoxious about it or take their ethics to ridiculous extremes or come off as holier-than-thou. 

How do they learn?

However they can. I especially like other people that read…both books and online resources.

How do they positively affect the world?

Through their work or church service.

Are they smiling, outgoing and creative?

They don’t need to be outgoing - though it’s hard to imagine many small business owners that have to directly interact with customers as anything but. It’s not necessary to walk around with a constant smile plastered on their face either (can start to seem phony, ya know?). Everybody is creative in their own ways. If you don’t believe that accountants can be creative, it’s only because you don’t understand their medium well enough :). That being said, no doom-and-gloom…smiles when appropriate and easy to get along with and smart all work for me.

What kind of environment do you want to create in your life?

One where I can run my business my way. The only people I want to answer to are my customers. I want to be doing something I love every day and never have to experience that feeling in the morning where you dread the up-coming day.

For more detail on this step, buy the book, it’s inexpensive and an easy ready. Keep following along as I continue to go through the process though.

Welcome back again!