Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

 

I am really surprised  that nobody in this community has any learning lessons they have gained from their business experiences that would be of assistance to others within the group.....  or is it al of these  are trade secretes  that arent something they want to share???

 

Am I being to broad??  maybe...

I guess I`m thinking  about personal developmental learning experiences that make you a better  person ,,, in life  and the business community..

Mike

I think I just needed a reminder post.  As I remember, this came when I was trying to meet a very tight deadline!  :)

First, treating all your customers as if they were your best customers and giving them the same level of superior service regardless of the size of their account will win you loyal customers.  You never know when one of  your small accounts will become a profitable operation or individual.  As I like to put it, treat people right when they have nothing and when they have something you`ll be the first to be rewarded.  It may be business and not personal, but the personal side of things can get you ahead!

Second, and this ties into the first, be generous and committed to your clients` success.  This doesn`t mean give away the farm, but I can tell you from personal experience that I am much more likely to be loyal to someone whom I sense is invested in me and truly interested in my succeeding than one who simply sees me as a paycheck.  In most major religions (I think), you`re told that what you give will be returned to you ten fold.  I should specify that when I say be generous, I mean with your time, your products, your advice or whatever it is that you feel is valuable to a person.  Some clients will take advantage of your generosity; that`s a fact of life and it`s a great way to see who it is that you should "shower" with more benefits and invest more time and resources in.  :)

Is that what you were looking for, Mike?

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MeLissa
Independent Chocolatier for Dove Chocolate Discoveries http://www.ChocoRocco.com Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/ChocoRocco

That reminded me  of the time, when I become a stock broker.   I had one of the guys in the office tell me:

"Take care of your clients and your clients will take care of you"

that was my first learning experience with giving great customer service...     back in 89.

You need to take care of your customers like they are "somebody important" ( and I mean truely feel that they are important to you) and until you finally realize how important that is   you really don`t  know how important it is.

Like the saying "you don`t know, what you don`t know, if you don`t know you don`t  know it".     If you understand  that one, you must have come to the ralization that there is so much information in this world and each of us only know  one  little  peice of it

This learning experience doesn`t  come right away  for most people  because when they get their first job   they are in their teens  and all they are worried about is getting their pay check.

Another learning realization I had with my current employer.

I was taking care of a customer  one  day  , and he was being a jerk( very rude)  and asking for something that I thought was unresonable,  and I believe  most people would have agreed with me.   But with the Companys`  attitude of fanatical customer service ( I may have just given away my current employer)  I  gave the customer what he wanted, even though his attitude lead me to believe  that he was the type of customer that was looking for the free lunch and we were going to loose  a few bucks on that purchase and never see him again.

I took care of the customer thinking  that he got what he wanted and I was likly never to see him.  I will tell you to this day this customer shops with us regularly. 

It is that is very hard to allow yourself to loose money on a particular occasion not knowing if your going to win the customer or not. 

On a different occassion I had won a customer over from the competition and made every effort to please her.  On one delivery we were acouple mins  late  and she complained,  acouple deliveries  later we arived about 5 mins  early  she complained again and  and we lost her  business.  I`m sorry when it comes to delivering food, there are to many factors to be able to guarantee an exact time

Analyzing the experiences I just explained  gave me a more complete learning lesson than I had realized before.

Don`t ever have a preconceived idea of how a customer is going to behave....whether  you are talking about a customer is going to come back or not, purchase  an extra product that you may want to recommend or any other aspect about your future business relationship.  Everybody has to draw the line in the sand somewhere because you can`t make all of the people happy all of the time..

Mike

 

 

 

 

My greatest business-related "lesson learned" has been to truly trust my "gut instinct" - and giving myself permission to make professional decisions based on those feelings or "little voices in my head."   So often, throughout my career, I have found myself in situations that didn`t "feel" right.  I most often waded through the challenges and problems of the specific client project; later wondering "why didn`t I base my decision on my gut instinct?"

Years ago I had a potential major client contact me to arrange an appointment.  The contract would have meant about several thousand dollars worth of business to my firm at the time.  Over the course of a week that appointment was changed several times to accommodate the schedule of the educational facility`s executive director who "had" to attend the meeting.  Of course, this required me rearranging my own schedule repeatedly and bumping other clients around to satisfy the needs of this woman.  The "red flags" started popping up and the "little voices" in my head began to tell me "This is going to be a P.I.T.A.* client!"  Still, I forged ahead and agreed to reschedule the meeting yet another time.

Arriving at the appointment with the marketing director, I was introduced to the executive director.  As the marketing specialist began to explain the scope of the project the executive director picked up a magazine and began to flip through it - showing absolutely no interest in the meeting she "had" to attend.  The marketing specialist finished her presentation and said "I do hope we will be working together on this project."

I responded with, "I`m sorry, but we will not be.  We rescheduled this meeting several times to allow for the executive director to attend.  Through this entire meeting she has been reading a magazine.  If this woman is going to be the major decision-maker on the project I will not be taking on the job."

I was stunned to hear the words come spewing out of my own mouth.  A big smile broke out on the face of the marketing director and she said "thank you very much for coming in."  The executive director looked horrified and politely shook my hand.  My legs were shaking as I got up to walk out of the room.  By the time I got to my car I felt as if I was going to be ill.  When I got home there was a voice-mail message from the executive director, apologizing and asking for me to reconsider.  I returned her call and told her I needed to stick with my "gut instinct" about the situation.  I later learned that another local designer took on the project and dealing with the executive director was an ongoing nightmare. 

For the first time in my career I had allowed myself to make a major decision based on emotion, feelings, and a sense that something was just not right with the situation.  Had I done so earlier in my business dealings, I would have avoided many incredibly difficult client issues.  Giving myself permission to add these elements to my decision-making process has saved me a great deal of grief since that turning point.

In speaking engagements these days, I now tell students and professionals "Pay a great deal of attention to your `gut instinct` - it will always be one of your best personal business advisors."

- J.

(* Pain in the *ss)


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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

So true, Jeff.  Just was reminded of that lesson today, in fact.  I think I`ll go with my gut reaction a little more readily in the future...

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MeLissa
Independent Chocolatier for Dove Chocolate Discoveries http://www.ChocoRocco.com Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/ChocoRocco

That was  great Jeff.

that story will stick for a very long  time. 

With me, I have learned to use the  gut feeling method  in my personal life  but havnt mastered it yet in my business life.  I feel it is because when you want  something so bad,   your subjective thoughts  rule  your  objective  thoughts.

Iknow  I have to desire  success  but not  want it so much as to blind  me,  just as how  love  blinds  you..

 

mike

I have learned quite a bit about myself since starting up...for example, I`ve learned to recognize what my weaknesses are, as opposed to someone telling me what they are.  There is a big difference.

I am not as strong as others are when it comes to providing direction.  Meaning, I am an idea person, so I can tell someone what I have in mind, conceptually, but I am unable to pull out the old spread sheet and start to break down responsibilities into small chunks time and results.

I am trying...each day I get a little better at taking the time to analyize a situation and breaking down its components to that those who work with me know what the heck they are supposed to be doing.

It sure is hard though...it feels so counter-intuitive to how I like to work.