Entrepreneur Coach

Every knowledgeable entrepreneur and employee should know that the real boss is neither the president nor the chairman. They are bosses too but they exist to serve another boss. No it is not the stockholders of the company. A group that is even bigger. So who is the real boss? The customer!

It is the customer who pays the rent, the electricity, the salaries, the dividends, and the new equipment. All businesses exist to serve the customer. If the customers are happy, money flows in. If the customers are not happy, less money or no money will flow in.

Since the customer is the boss, the customer should be treated well. Let me drive the point stronger. Since the customer is the reason the business exists, the customer should be treated like a king.

How do we treat the customer like a king? Allow me to name a few.
1. Courtesy. Observe the best companies in the world. Their people always show courtesy to the customers. Every time I enter a Jollibee, McDonalds, or Starbucks store I am greeted with happy faces.
2. Respect. One way to show respect is to get their opinion about the product and service. Requesting them to fill up a feedback form or by directly asking them is an expression of respect. “Sir, how did you find the meal?” Another way is to make the service a little faster. When I was in Thailand, I had a suit made. I was pleasantly surprised by the workmanship and their ability to finish it in less than 24 hours.
3. Happiness. Extraordinary establishments go beyond the expected service. They make their customers happy. I was with a friend in a coffee shop and he ordered a tea latte. The store did not serve a tea latte but they made efforts to produce it instead of saying that they did not sell tea lattes. My friend was so happy with the extended service.

You as an entrepreneur probably know this but the question is, do your employees especially the front liners know this? Do they know how important one customer is? Do they know how to give the extra mile to a customer?

I was once in a well-known bank, sitting and waiting for their staff to process my request. A young lady came in with a query. She seems troubled and she was asking something that the tellers obviously did not know. I thought the tellers would respond with a smile and say, “Ma’am we do not have the answer to your query now but I can take note of it. I will try to have the answer by tomorrow morning. Here is my number. Please call me.” But they did not. They answered with a simple, “We do not know.”

The lady left upset. Then the tellers giggled and said mean words about the customer right in front of me, another customer. I realized that even in huge establishments, not all the employees know that the real bosses are the customers. All the employees should be reminded that they should treat the real boss with respect and courtesy.

© Ed Pilapil Jr.