What Children Can Teach You About Customers

There nothing more enjoyable than learning from your children. My three-year-old is always teaching me valuable lessons on anger management, time management, and leading a disciplined life in general. I recently realized that observing my child closely can help me learn a lesson or two about my professional customers. Here’s what I found:

You have to give them what THEY want

My child repeated his request for a “blue car” for weeks until I got him one. No, the red and black ones he already had would just not do! One of my customers would not budge until I placed a certain screenshot in a user guide even though it was obviously unnecessary under the given circumstance. See the parallel?

Negotiation is the key

You certainly can’t get anywhere without negotiating with your child – “If you want to paint this picture without messing it up, you have to let me help you”. Well, haven’t we all spent time negotiating with customers who have unreasonable expectations? – “If you want great documentation, you simply have to give me more time.”

Packaging is important

Your child is always attracted towards toys that are nicely wrapped in glittering paper. Same is the case with your customer. Packaging your content is important. You must give due importance to the fonts, colors, background images, and other style elements. Beware of jarring colors and bulky images.

Give them more than they are expecting

Sometimes I give my child a bonus toy for his good behavior. It’s just amazing to see the happiness on his face. It makes my day. With customers too, you can delight them by doing more than what you are expected to do. A delighted customer is an asset for life. They’ll always return to you for their work.

Don’t take them for a ride

If you expect your child to be truthful, you have to lead the way by being a role model. If you lie to your child, he will only follow your example. With customers too, it’s very, very important to be truthful and transparent. If you think you can bill your customer for hours that you have not really spent on their work, you’re asking for trouble. Act respectably and you will get respect and recurring business in return.