The Cost of a Customer

Mike Donoghue is a member of a multinational information technology corporation where he collaborates on the communications guidelines and customer relationship strategies affecting the interactions with internal and external clients. He has analyzed, defined, designed and overseen processes for various engagements including product usability and customer satisfaction, best practice enterprise standardization, relationship/branding structures, and distribution effectiveness and direction. He has also established corporate library solutions to provide frameworks for sales, marketing, training, and support divisions.

  CRM   Stakeholder Management  

Think about it: Do you have some wonderful flagship customers that you would prefer to keep happy so you have the benefit of adding their names to your roster of VIPs, or because they provide you other kinds of "access points" that improve your professional experience? And if they know their value to your firm, are they using that edge to their advantage, thus becoming more demanding of you when it comes to service and pricing?

Massaging the egos and temperaments of clients is always at issue, especially new ones who have not had the personal history of knowing how well your firm performs its function or those who are wary because they have been mishandled in the past by others. Putting the customer first and making them feel important without sacrificing your firm and associates to slavery can be a line that gets crossed frequently, making your staff the victims of the whips of outrageous requests.

Maybe this isn't happening to you. If it is, maybe you can accept it as a business standard. Maybe though, you need to consider more carefully the value these types of customers provide and how much they contribute to your well-being.

Getting Perks

What mileage do you get out of retaining troublesome clients? It has been found through some semi-scientific surveys that people who run into problems or difficult situations invariably discuss the predicament with six or …

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