Be the Customer You Want to Have


We all have those favourite customers - the ones we’d bend over backwards for when they really need our help.

Think about those things you most appreciate about your best customers and make a list. Draw a ‘picture’ of what your ideal customer ‘looks’ like. My friend and marketing guru Debi Hartlen MacDonald says that we should even ‘name’ our ideal customer. Get to know who they are and we will recognize them when we meet them.

As small business owners, we tend to work a lot with other small business owners. If I can be an ideal customer to my suppliers, it’s beneficial to both of us.

Best customer characteristics will vary depending on what you do. Here are some suggestions for how you can be an ideal customer:

Make your requirements clear. Right from the start establish what your expectations are and develop a plan to work together to achieve them.

Give specific and timely feedback. Be honest early on. And be as exact as possible. Use words that allow your supplier to act on your feedback.

Meet deadlines. Commit to meeting established deadlines by entering them in your calendar and planning your work accordingly. When sh*t happens, as it is bound to at some point, your supplier will be more willing to accommodate if it’s possible.

Pay invoices on time. Need I say more? Cash flow is important to all small businesses.

I firmly believe that we attract our own ideal customers by being an ideal customer ourselves.

photo by Dell's Official Flickr Page


Originally published in Work Better, Not Harder on November 22, 2012

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Content Ideas for Consultants - Getting Started (Part 1)

Image
Just this week I heard it again: “If I start a newsletter, what would I put in it?” While I can think of lots of content ideas for just about any business owner I meet, it’s not so easy for everyone. In fact, it wasn’t always easy for me either. It gets easier, and you get better, with practice. For consultants, there’s an added bonus to spending time creating marketing content and that's learning . Benjamin Franklin said, “There is no better way to learn than to teach.” Sharing valuable content is teaching and, when you’re creating content for your blog or newsletter, you’ll also be doing research, checking assumptions, and developing opinions . If you’re a new business owner, or new to developing content, finding a place to start might feel like picking a needle out of a haystack. In this series of posts, I'll explain how to get started and accomplish other goals, too. Build Your Confidence Since confidence comes from writing about what you know , start with crea...
Keep reading »

7 Out Of 12 Small Business Bloggers Agree On This

Image
When I teach marketing courses, the group eventually tires of seeing this list come up on the screen in every class: Build relationships, community Grow your reputation, sphere of influence Be seen as an expert Share valuable info, products, services Increase your social media following Give value to your customers, prospects and colleagues on a regular basis Get found - SEO The items on this list are key reasons for publishing a blog or newsletter . Yes, of course, the ultimate goal is sometimes - but not always - an increase in sales. The problem is, you (and me) can't meet all the goals on that list at the same time. We'd become unfocused and demotivated. So I 'force' these small business folk to pick only two goals  to focus on. Last week I noted the two goals each person called out as we went around the room. I added my own two goals, as well, to round the group off at a dozen. Seven of us chose #2 - growing our reputation - as one of our two ...
Keep reading »

Best Beginner Business Blogging Advice

Image
If you're planning to begin blogging for your business, I'd like to shorten your learning curve. Because, oh boy, do you ever have lots to learn. The good news is that you don't need to know it all before you start, and learning as you go is fun. I asked a couple of award-winning business bloggers to give me their best advice for beginners so I can pass it onto you. Mary Jane Copps , aka The Phone Lady , has been blogging weekly for her business since 2009. Here's what she says: 1. Embrace a schedule. While it feels daunting to commit to a daily, weekly or monthly blog, staying true to a posting schedule will make you a better writer, and you will develop the ability to create and uncover great story ideas. 2. Be observant; write it down. No matter what the theme of your blog, things will appear in your life each day that can become a post. Stay present to every phone call, meeting and event. Great content is everywhere. But don't rely on your memory; keepi...
Keep reading »

Your Marketing Made Easy

Image
We have a LOT of options when it comes to our online marketing. The choices can be staggering, often leading to no action at all. Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate as a facilitator at the Your Marketing Made Easy conference in Regina, SK. 10 facilitators, 16 workshops - covering topics like social media, blogging, email marketing, SEO, event marketing, web usability, and so much more. It was a fun and inspiring day! My only regret is that I didn't get to attend many of the workshops put on by the other facilitators. photo by  Alvil Tayco on Twitter Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Trying to Unsubscribe

Image
We often talk about the importance of making it easy to unsubscribe. I thought I would share with you my recent experience demonstrating the frustration that can occur when it is not. I decided to unsubscribe from Air Canada's onAir newsletter several issues ago. When my issue arrived, I clicked to unsubscribe and landed on a 'No Update' error page. No big deal, the internet can be glitchy, I would just do it the next issue. This went on for 4 or 5 issues at which point, I started to feel like they were sending me to the error page on purpose. I was getting a little hot under the collar. Last week, on a bad day for me, the current issue arrived and I landed on the same error page. I then went back to the newsletter and clicked the "contact us" link which took me to a form on their website called 'Let Us Know'. It was a lengthy form and the first section was my contact information in which I had to fill out my address, email, phone number and ...
Keep reading »

Reducing the Noise

One problem with the current social media soup is the high noise to relevant signal ratio. The most effective way to deal with this problem is to find accepted and popular experts in your field of interest and subscribe to their feeds. This will lead you to relevant online communities from which you can find and share pertinent advice and draw new customers. This approach will work much better than broad monitoring of many social media services because it will greatly reduce the noise you will need browse and therefore, the time you need to spend building your online reputation. Click to Tweet the Article
Keep reading »

6 Tactics to Turn Visitors into Subscribers

Image
Getting someone to your sign-up form is one thing. Getting them to actually subscribe is quite another. To make that happen, here's what I recommend: Have a sign-up form on its own page , or at least immediately visible on the web page (aka landing page) where you send people to subscribe. ( read more about this ) Avoid other calls to action that may distract your potential subscriber. ( read more about this ) Clearly describe what’s in it for your subscriber and how often they’ll get it. ( see our sign-up as an example ) Provide examples via links to past issues in your archive. ( our archive ) Include a brief disclaimer that you won't sell or share contact info. Ask only for an email address unless you have a pressing need for more information. The more you ask for, the less likely someone will be to sign up. With the new Canadian anti-spam legislation (CASL) , building our mailing lists via 'express' consent will become increasingly critical to e...
Keep reading »

The Anti-spam Revolution

There’s a bit of a kerfuffle lately about the new Canadian anti-spam regulations (CASL) . Organizations are busy pushing out emails asking us to re-opt-in to their mailing lists before July 1st. Are you wondering what it’s all about? Or are you ignoring it, hoping it will never impact you? As a small business owner, you should know the basics because, unless you plan to stop doing emails, text messages, and social media posts, your business communication is regulated by the new law. It’s not just about these enewsletters. First, only commercial electronic messages (CEMs) fall under the regulations. Your message is a CEM if it encourages participation in a business transaction or activity, regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit . Many emails, texts, and social media posts sent on behalf of your business are going to be CEMs. Now you know that you need to know. Read my blog post CASL Basics for Small Business for a quick overview. You can find lots of information ...
Keep reading »

Accountability: More Than A Deadline

If you’ve been in business for more than a few months, you’ve had the discussion about accountability with at least one other business owner – and will continue to have that conversation with other business owners. We all struggle with staying focused and getting things done. One way that we combat this is by setting up systems of accountability. Our systems vary greatly, from detailed plans and deadlines to mastermind groups and more. One strategy that can be effective is bringing another person into your system to be accountable to. Telling someone else about your goals and deadlines is a step in the right direction. But accountability works best when it’s more than deadlines and reminders - when there’s the real potential for loss. That could be the loss of money, if we are paying someone to keep us accountable. It could be the loss of opportunity, if we aren’t acting fast enough. It could be the loss of integrity or trust, if the opinion of the person we are letting down is i...
Keep reading »

Doodle

A cool little online app that you can use to coordinate decision-making among a group of people... and it's really simple! You can ask for available dates for a meeting or ask for input to a decision. www.doodle.com (Thanks to Joan for this handy tool!) Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »