A quick rant here. (Ok, or “review” if we’re being politically correct about the whole thing…)
Yesterday I had a long appointment with a representative of the large internet blind company Hillarys, to measure up in our new build house in the country, so that I could get a quote for how many smackeroos it’s going to take to cover all our shiny new windows. (The answer to this, by the way, is “many”. Yikes.)
I was pretty pleased with the choice of fabrics available, and picked definites for our master bedroom, the guest bedroom and kitchen/utility areas. Not so sure, however, that I wanted to spend nearly 250 quid each on blinds for the boys’ bedrooms, when they’re inevitably going to get opinionated about these things shortly, and bathrooms – because, well, really? I asked for the dimensions of those windows so that I could investigate alternatives.
The response (i.e. a big fat NO) that I received surprised me a bit, and reminded me of a conversation I had several years ago with a colleague about doing business in a competitive market. Defensive trading – or trading designed to minimise the competition’s impact on your business – just doesn’t work. It’s like living in fear on a personal basis – your fears fuel themselves, and become self-perpetuating.
Imagine that you have a foxy partner. You may find yourself wondering from time to time whether Mr or Ms Foxy is going to find a similarly hot bit of stuff, that isn’t you, to make off with. Fair enough – relationships can be fickle enough these days to make that sort of thing a possibility. So you start to think more and more about it, you have the odd sneaky peek at the Foxster’s texts, you start sniffing collars for hints of incriminating perfume or aftershave; and before you know it you’re full-on rummaging feverishly through pants drawers, steaming open mail, opening faux facebook profiles to entrap the cheating little beggar.. In short, things get out of hand.
The inevitable result of becoming a mentalist in a relationship, is that your partner will get fed up with you and go elsewhere. Bingo – your fear has become a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Apply this scenario to the world of business. Imagine you provide a “no obligation” quote for a potential client, that involves some work on your part; oh, let’s call this work “measuring windows” for the sake of argument. Once you’re finished, and you reveal your quote, your potential client has become a customer. Whether or not your new customer chooses to actually order from you is a moot point; a customer they are nonetheless – it’s like walking into a supermarket, filling your trolley, then leaving it standing in the aisle and stomping out because you clocked the gigantic queue at the checkout and can’t be bothered with that nonsense thank you very much! You’re no less a customer because you didn’t buy; you’re just a pissed-off customer, that’s all.
By witholding the measurements of my windows (in case I took the lot and went elsewhere – God damn my blackened and cheating heart…) Hillarys turned me into a pissed-off customer.
Scenario A: Nice Lady orders 4 roller blinds, and 3 (pretty pricey) roman blinds for new house. Nice Lady gets measurements for remaining windows from Helpful Blind Company, and uses them to get quotes for slightly less pocket-wounding kids’ curtains and bathroom blinds. It’s all relatively easy and faff-free, so Nice Lady is happy with her blind purchasing experience, and tells her friends about Helpful Blind Company.
Scenario B: Nice Lady gets annoyed at company policy that dictates “your window measurements are now the property of Hillarys Blinds“. Annoyed Lady realises she has to spend another afternoon with somebody else, measuring the same windows all over again; which – let’s face it – is a pain in the backside, so decides that out of principle she’ll order no roller blinds and no roman blinds from Not-So-Helpful-Blind-Company and take her smackeroos elsewhere. Now Annoyed & Vociferous Lady tells her friends, and the internet.
So which scenario is better for your business?
The same colleague that I had this chat with, many years ago, told me that in her opinion, the best way to get what you want was to act as if you already have it. Want a faithful Foxster who would never dream of absconding with a personal fitness trainer? Then believe you’re so fabulous that it wouldn’t occur to anybody to cheat on you. That’s what I’ve been doing in my relationships since the great self-discovery of 2006, and as far as I know I’ve never been cuckolded – and if I have been, then I don’t know about it, it hasn’t affected my relationships or my self esteem, and hence I don’t really care. That certainly beats searching feverishly through pants drawers.
Want to be a market-leading company that beats competition? Then be fearless, accept that your customers will need your help not to purchase from you from time to time, and instead of seeing Scenario A as being a waste of your time and the loss of 2 stupidly overpriced roman blind orders, it suddenly turns into an investment in your company’s reputation, recruitment of a customer who will advocate your business, and a – yes, slightly smaller than anticipated, but still valuable – order for your sales ledgers.
*Insert comedy South London accent* Everybody’s ‘appy!
So the moral of the story is – forget the blind nonsense, and try making your customers happy instead. Because it’s not just me who “has blog, will rant”.
*Insert winking smiley*
