The Golden Rule Was Wrong – 3 Trends in Client Service
January 14, 2010


Many businesses were built upon the client is always right, do onto clients as you would have them do onto you and never turn away a client. Have we reached a point in the market where these words of advice need to be set aside? Dialed down or just plain erased?

The answer is…..could be, could be now. Look at these trends:

1. This last year you saw Sprint fire 1,000 customers who were mercilessly congesting their toll free numbers and costing the company not only $1,000’s of dollars but tying up service lines for many other customers. If you can only deliver service to so many clients, should it be the 80% who bring in the majority of your revenue and love what you do? Maybe you could do more with the best clients if you had less to do with those who will not be happy no matter what you offer.

2. The world knows everything about you, shouldn’t you be out there spreading the good word? Twitter, Facebook, online reviews, and You Tube don’t tell 10 people that a customer is unhappy, they tell a 1,000. Don’t keep the good things a secret, encourage your happy client ambassadors to go out there online and spread the good word. Their recommendation is worth more than your fancy brochure.

3. The client buys you, not the product. With so many places to buy products, clients have one thing to purchase from you. (Uh, that’s you!) The client may not always be right, but do you give them that relationship they want? Anticipating client needs is essential into this new decade. Pet Travel, canine edible greeting cards, online service and pet personalized accessories thrive in a dull economy. Why?

Have you fired high maintenance clients in order to provide a higher level of service to other clients?

Do you have a presence on Facebook or Twitter and had it been a success?

Are you using email as a means to communicate with your clients?



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