Its Good to please the king !

I was reading this on Joel's blog about customer service, and the statement "Customer is always King " ran through my mind. Very often this should be the core of a lot of companies, especially start ups. Sure, there have failures due blown ideas, but at the end, a majority of them happens in one way or another because the customer was ignored. I am not just talking about the after sales component of it. I am talking about from the get go of the first interaction with the customer. In my 13+ years working with customers [with a good bit of success] some things that stand out in my mind are

1. Always listen before you talk
I remember my 4 standard [yes, it is standard and not grade where I grew up] used to say that there are two parts to a conversation, the good part and the one talking all the time. A lot of time, you will find a favorable customer and a loyal one if you just listen. That gives the ability to solve their problems or explain why you cannot.

2. Be Honest
Nothing good comes out of telling teh customer anything short of the truth. Sooner or later it will come back to bit you in the rear and your business as well.

3. Walk away, if you have to
This is a tough one and needs to be managed carefully. But at the end of the day, there are customers you need to walk away from. What I am referring to is not place yourself or the company in a position where trying to keep one customers is compromising the needs of others - customers and company goals. It might hurt in the short term, but will reap long term benefits.

4. Do not forget where your paycheck comes from!
Seriously, satisfying a customer and taking care of them should not and must not translate to selling your company or the colleagues. I have worked with people who have been super successfull with customer in the short term, and lost out in the long term. The irony is that the very customer looks at you differently [negatively], in most cases.

5. Be Passionate
I know its such a cliche thing to say, but without being passionate , the conviction in your ability to represent the customer at all levels will be constantly tested.

One of these I hope to put down in greater details, of my learnings. And the amazing thing is that I continue to learn from my customers, and thats always exciting.