Author : Eric P. Barnes
Odd question, isn't it?Not really. The answer to it can determine your success
potential.The Customer Is Always Right - NOT!In many cases, you are the customer. Especially
when dealing with other providers, insurance people, your
banker, funding sources and a host of others who help
support you in your business - and personal - activities. And
any failure on your part to be a good client/customer to those
suppliers almost guarantees major problems in your
business relationships.Yet how do you measure up as their customer? Are
you the sort of customer you wish you dealt with
every day in your business? Good Communication? High
level of Courtesy? Professionalism in your relationships?
Patience with difficult situations? Ethics and Integrity? The
desire to help everyone to achieve the best result for all
concerned?How often - if ever - do you even look at any of these areas?Good CommunicationProbably the most critical area of downfall is in
communication, both with your customers and those who
supply you. Without communication, little occurs in
business. Without good communication the
very best of business simply cannot happen.When you're seeking funding, do you answer all the
questions? Do you work to find out the format in which the
funder desires your information? Do you follow directions?
It would be impossible to tell you the number of times
Capital Funds Group has to deal with these problems. Our
major Equity Investment funder, for instance, has asked that
a specific format be used for the submission of an Executive
Summary. Why?, you might ask. The simple and obvious
answer is that like all such investors, they have to deal with
hundreds of submissions monthly. If they are all in the
same format, it is simple to read them quickly, reject those
which don't fit their requirements, or issue invitations to
those which do.Do you respond quickly? If you receive an email, do you
simply let the funder know you received it and will get the
required information back quickly. A small thing, you might
think. However, when there are dozens to hundreds of
deals in the making, it gets the attention of the funder. "This
company knows how to communicate, how to respond."
That means that you'll be getting just a bit more attention
than other companies who fail in such courtesies. The
same can be said, of course, if you do the same thing with
your own customers. Communicate! And quickly.CourtesyBusiness is often very fast nowadays. There is much to do
and, seemingly, little time in which to do it. And, with the
advent of the internet, you may never even hear the voice of
your customer or supplier. Which makes courtesy all the
more important.No one wants to deal with discourtesy. It unfailiingly puts
them in a bad mood which creates nothing but difficulty for
you and your company. So it means you must take your
personal connections to funders, suppliers, service
personnel and, of course, your customers, very seriously.
But it doesn't mean you need be serious, either. The
simple things...the please, the thank you, the
that's very good of you are the lubricants needed in
this hectic business environment. A bit of humour now and
then, when the situation warrants it, can also help. It's
doubly important in emails and other communication. And
while you may never be meeting your customer, you
will be meeting your funder. And you will
certainly be many steps ahead if you've already established
yourself as a courteous person.Entrepreneurial ProfessionalismJust how professional are you? As an entrepreneur, are you
a risk taker? Are you prepared to shift gears in the middle of
business because a new and better roadway has opened
up? Can you easily adjust to new circumstances, new ways
of approaching a situation? If not, unfortunately, you're really
not an entrepreneur. Risk taking is part and parcel of the
meaning of that word. It's critical in today's world of
unceasing change to be ready to shift plans, move in new
directions and be willing to assume the responsiblity for
what may happen. That's the essences of entrepreneurial
professionalism Scary? Sometimes. But so is most real
decision making, another vital characteristic of an
entrepreneur. As the saying goes, "Feel the fear and do it
anyway." That might well be the perfect slogan for an
entrepreneur.Another mental anchor is "I've already seen that, done that,
thought that." It stops you from looking at what appear to be
"old" situations and perceiving a difference, one which might
bring you to where you wish to be. If you're stuck with such
a belief, an attitude of already knowing all the answers,
again you are not really an entrepreneur.Ethics and IntegritySelf awareness and the willingness to be brutally honest
with oneself are two other great entrepreneurial traits.
Integrity means "wholeness," being complete in oneself.
Not an easy thing to achieve, by any means, but a
worthwhile goal in life. Ethics is simply understanding "The
Rules." Not any rules imposed from outside yourself, but
those you intuitively know are the way to behave and treat
both others and yourself. If you're always seeking the
"upper hand" in a deal, you're not really there to accomplish
a winning situation for everyone, the ultimate achievement.
If you spend your working life trying to be #1, not as an
achievement, but as being "one up" on everyone else, trying
to be noticed and applauded by others, you are truly seeking
a false goal. You have no real integrity because your value
is measured by how others perceive you. If you need or
demand that sort of attention from others, there is no one
truly home inside you. And no business achievement can
ever replace that.My SuggestionTake a look again at the list of items I've laid out in this
article. How many of them are "standard" in both your
business and personal life? Where do you think you might
improve? Where might you ask for help in those areas?
What books, tapes, CDs or other sources might you spend
some time with, opening yourself to the personal growth
needed to improve in all those areas. What do you need to
do to become the finest client in the world? Worth thinking
about.Mr. Barnes is President & General Manager of Capital
Funds Group Ltd., a Canadian based world wide consulting
firm specializing in Putting Companies and Money
Together. They also work with non-US companies
to take them public rapidly and inexpensively, then getting
them funded. Visit our
Web Site Email
Him
Keyword : entrepreneur, success, client, customer, funding, communication, professionalism, ethics, integrity,
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