I recently had a great reminder of a lesson I’ve had to learn a few times… the hard way.
I was working out and the gym owner approached me to tell me about a member who he had to let go.
Over the weekend, this member caused a scene and made other gym members extremely uncomfortable. One of those members was my wife.
So the owner called the member up and handled it like a boss.
He told him he was canceling his membership because he was not a good fit for the club.
Apparently, the owner contacted another franchise location and found out this same member had a track record of being a shitty customer.
The owner may have lost one customer but he created lifetime customers with me, my wife, and the other members the cancerous customer was aggravating.
It’s a tough call as a business owner to know what the right decision is. It’s damn near impossible to please every single customer but you can always make sure you’re looking after the majority.
But how do you know when and how to draw the line?
We no longer live in an age where the customer is always right. We live in an age where culture matters above all else.
There’s been a shift in the market place over the past 5 years where customers have become hip to what businesses are doing. They know an ad when they see it, they can smell bullshit a mile away, and they want real value in exchange for what they invest their hard earned cash in.
With a shift in power in the relationship between business and the consumer, the dynamic of the relationship has changed. With one side wanting more, the other side has earned the right to ask for more as well.
That’s where we’re shifting back towards a marketplace where businesses choose who they do business with. Not based on race or background but on values and being a good culture fit.
Companies are just groups of people bound together by a set of core beliefs. Money is no longer a strong enough to buy in if the expectations are higher for what’s delivered.
Customers must be a fit for the culture of an organization because at the end of the day, it’s a relationship. And in most relationships, especially if you’re married, you rarely get to be right every time.
So if you’re looking to spend your cash with a company, take the time to learn about at their culture and ask yourself: “Do this company’s values align with my own?” If not, then you most likely won’t find what you’re looking for.
If you’re a business and you’re talking to a prospect, take a moment and ask yourself: “Will this person be a good fit for what we provide?”
If the answer is no, you’ll most likely end up getting their business one time and bad reviews for a lifetime. Save yourself the headache and focus on the people who will end up “doing life” with your company. That’s why you started your business in the first place.
Build your culture.
Serve your culture.
And most importantly, preserve your culture.
It’s the foundation all success is built on.
And one more thing, don’t forget to go get what you’re worth.
Until Next Time.
