There’s a lot out there on this subject and a lot of interest, so I’m going to pull it all together and offer a free teleclass on January 11, 2007. To register for the class, please go to: www.LauraBenjamin.com/interviews.htm and fill out the registration form.

In the meantime, here are a few preliminary highlights from the class:

Who Fires their Customers? Almost everyone, including political parties and churches

How to Avoid Firing Them in the First Place?

  • Attract the right ones from the start
  • narrow your business focus to give you guaranteed “wins” most of the time
  • profile your best customers, then look for more just like them
  • Identify who you DON’T want to do business with as much as the ones you do

Some companies make it a practice not to fire a customer. Stew Leonards grew to become the World’s Largest Dairy Store and one of the most renowned grocery stores with annual sales of $300 million and almost 2000 team members. They are recognized for their management philosophy: “Take good care of your people and they in turn will take good care of your customers.  It’s this philosophy that earned them a place on FORTUNE Magazine’s list of  “100 Best Companies to Work For in America” for four consecutive years. The famous granite rocks outside the entry of each of their stores contains these rules:

Rule #1: The Customer is Always Right

Rule #2: If the Customer is ever wrong, re-read Rule #1

For more info on Stew Leonards customer service philosophies and company profile, visit: http://www.stewleonards.com/html/about.cfm Yet Seth Godin says, “…if it’s not worth making the customer right, fire her. It’s the unwritten Rule 3 on Stew Leonard’s famous granite rock: if the customer is wrong, they’re not your customer any more.” (www.sethgodin.com)

Methinks the truth falls somewhere in the middle. So please join us on January 11, 2007 for the class. If that date doesn’t fit your schedule, email me using the contact form (www.laurabenjamin.com/contact.htm) and I’ll send you specifics on how to access the recorded MP3 file.

Until next time,

Laura