Comments by "Mat Broomfield" (@matbroomfield) on "When it's time to fire your customers - Rossmann reads Yelp reviews." video.

  1. Man you could totally read this two ways. The world has moved in the direction of providing minimum care for maximum cost. "Give me your money and get out the door". As a paerson who remembers when companies actually had people who answered phones, and helped with problems, hearing you criticise this guy for preferring personal attention, it seems to me like you're coming from the other side of the equation. I realise that customers often want to big up their potential future custom to you, but you don't know when they might actually be capable of being a valuable customer. You talk resentfully about not wanting to audition for him, yet he gave you an important clue in the fact that it was a CUSTOMER'S machine - reason enough for him to want to ensure the best care, and reason for you to consider that he actually might be a clearing house for many other people. You think you just fired one customer, and you might have dismissed 500! Also, if you were going to generalise, I don't think I'd be interested in getting my work handled by a business that goes online to criticise its customers. All of that said, I certainly do recognise that some customers are more trouble than they're worth. But I don't think it's worth making an enemy of anyone in business. This is one of those issues that I simply would not have made from an account that is strongly associated with my name and business.
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  2. "One should always shoot to offer the best service, best value, and best customer experience" I agree with you completely."Just no need to get on one's knees for it." Perhaps there's a confusion here between what you have intended and what I have understood you to mean. I don't for one second suggest that you should grovel for business, but earning business rather than simply expecting it seems totally reasonable. Moreover, the greater the potential business, the greater the expectation. If I put in a bid for an animation job, I expect to have to produce client specific samples that might take weeks or more to create, because the rewards are contracts worth hundreds or even millions of pounds. If Fred, the friend of a friend is asking for a 1000 dollar archviz rendering for the website of his new business, I would not expect to prove myself at all. Right now we have two political candidates who seem to feel entitled to support simply because of who they are, and both are heading for disappointment.
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  3. Every business auditions for customers at some stage during its life, and any business that is too stuck up to recognise that fact deserves to remain small time. Customers don't know about your history and until you have a working relationship, they have zero reason to trust in your competence, and only arrogance or lack of empathy would lead you to believe otherwise. Bringing their business to you is a choice and you need to justify that choice. Don't believe that's important? Then ask yourself why eBay's ratings system is so important. Ask yourself why Yelp and other business review sites are springing up all over the internet. Ask yourself why unboxings are so popular on youtube. There are exceptions, but this business was not one of them. What line of business are you in?
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  4. Michael's case is exactly the kind of exception that I was referring to. The man has a massive reputation and he is only interested in word of mouth. That said, thinking about people who do NOT know him as riff raff is the kind of thinking that can limit a business and breed resentment, but if he's happy with his business being exclusive, that's fine. I mean Rolex, Armani and Lamborghini still advertise, but I'm sure he knows best. Likewise with your business Louis, if you're happy at the scale you're at that's fine. I appreciate and respect your choice to go for happiness over wealth. And expansion certainly brings its own problems. But you're just one aggressive competitor away from disaster with that policy. A guy opens down the street with similar competence and lower overheads or a large enough start up so he can knock 25% off all your prices, and you'll quickly discover how deep your customer loyalty runs, and quickly your off-the-street custom dries up. Personally, I see EVERY customer as a the fountainhead of a river that potentially grows into a thousand other customers. Any one might be a pain, but they may put you in touch with many more who are valuable to you.
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