The Customer is NOT Always Right

You know how everyone tells you that the customer is always right?

Well, they’re wrong.

But that doesn’t mean that you should dismiss what they have to say. In fact, what they are telling you could be critical to the future of your business.

Let me explain.

Always right is an absolute.

I’ve never subscribed to the “your customer is always right” mantra. Your customer might  be right. Your customer could be right. But it’s unlikely that they are always right.

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”

— Bill Gates

This is closer to what I believe. Even when you feel that your customer’s complaints are utterly unjustified you still need to be actively listening, taking notes and reflecting on what has been said.

What they say isn’t necessarily what they mean

What they say: “You are too expensive”

What you hear: “Lower your prices, others are less expensive than you”

What they mean: “I don’t trust that what you have presented to me is worth what you are charging for it.”

So what should you do?

Reflect. Is what they are saying true? Are you too expensive? Expensive compared to what? Note, they didn’t say “I wish that was in my budget” to which you could offer to reduce scope of services to meet their budget. They said “too expensive”. So ask them, what are you comparing that too?”

What they say: “Why would I need that?”

What you hear: “What I am offering isn’t needed by them”

What they mean: “I don’t understand how this will add value to what I do.”

Again, reflect. Do you believe that you can add value to this person with your product or service? If yes, then where is the disconnect between what you have told them and what they have understood. 

What they say: "This isn't what I wanted"

What you hear: "I have failed my customer"

What they mean: "What I understood I would be receiving is not what I have recieved"

There are so many reasons this could have happened but the majority of time either the client has misunderstood what the end result would or could be. Or, you have not delivered on what they have expected. Because sometimes the client is right. 

What should you listen to?

Firstly, listen to the message inside the message. What are they really telling you?

Don’t fill in the blanks with your own insecurities.

Try to meet your customer’s needs by taking note of both what they are saying and what they are not saying.

Most importantly, you should listen to your gut.

If your gut tells you that this is not the right client for your business listen to it, and listen hard. The way someone speaks to you before they become a client is the best indicator you will get of how they will be to work with in the future.

If your gut says no, tell them "thank you and goodbye". You will not regret it.

This is not your Free Pass

To be clear, this is not your excuse to blame your customer. I advocate delighting your customers at all opportunities. Wherever possible you should be going over and above what you promised to deliver (and if you have already over-promised, at a minimum, meet the promise that you made). 

It is more a gentle reminder to keep listening to what is being said, make sure that you are effectively communicating your value and also, make sure you screen your clients carefully. The right client will thank you for it.

The One Thing

I’m speaking to you.

The lost and the hopeless.

The scared and the frightened.

The people who have pursued their dream of starting a business, because not pursuing it was crushing their soul a little bit more each day. You started with such a fire in your belly, only now you feel as though your business is consuming you.

You who wake at 4 in the morning because even in your dreams your fears are chasing you.

“What should I do?”

“Where can I get more clients, more money”

“I’m working so hard and don’t know how I can do more.”

“Should I go and get a ‘real’ job?”

You, who are working every hour you can to serve the people you want to serve but who just can’t see the way forward.

You, who are so close to giving up.

I know you. I see you. You are not alone.

You are so scared of the “what ifs”, especially the “what if I fail?” that you don’t know how to take the next step forward.

And every day it gets a little bit harder to put on your game face, a little bit harder to smile.

What I want you to know… what I need you to know, is this…

“You. Are. Enough.”

Every single day, you are enough. You think you are lost, but you’re not, you just can’t see your destination yet.

You think you’re alone, but you’re not, there are others out there just as scared as you if only you could acknowledge that to each other.

You think that failing means the end when really it could just be the new beginning.

You were brave to start your own business. You are still brave because even in the face of adversity you continue to move forward, no matter how small those movements may seem.

You will get to exactly where you need to be, even if you don’t know yet where that may be.

Hold on. You are enough.

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How to Give an Ignite Talk

Have you heard of Ignite Talks?

No?

Neither had I until somehow I had applied to do one… and been accepted… and only then did I realise that ignite was not just a cute name for a talk. It was an actual type of talk.

Oh dear.

As a reformed non-public speaker, I will now happily say yes to any interesting speaking opportunity that comes my way.

So, what is an Ignite talk?

In its original format, an Ignite Talk is a presentation containing 20 slides which are auto-forwarding every 15 seconds.

I’ll pause while you let that sink in.

20 slides.

15 seconds.

Over which the presenter has no control.

Yup.

The format of the talk I was giving had been tweaked slightly from the standard to 20 slides, auto-forwarding every 20 seconds. But still….

But that sounds easy I can hear you say, that’s a talk of only 6 minutes and 40 seconds with 20 slides.

E-A-S-Y.

Yes, I thought that too, until I tried it. What it actually means is that you have your one topic with one message. You need to break that down into 20 bite size pieces of information lasting no longer than 20 seconds each. What starts out as easy suddenly turns into 20 x 20 mini talks which stand alone with their accompanying slide but can all be linked together to create one message.

And you cannot stop, no matter what happens, your slides are moving and you have to keep pace with them.

Not so easy now, is it?

Where do you start preparing a talk like that?

What follows is my method, it may not work for everyone but it was successful for me and I would use it again.

1. Choose your message - this is a short, fast-paced presentation. You only have time for one message, make it count.
2. Choose your pillars - In Talk like TED, Carmine Gallo explains the power of three. 1 message, 3 main points, 3 sub points, 1 concluding call to action. I use this format as a starting point for any presentation I do.
3. Don’t get fancy with your slides. This is not the time for animation, music or embeded video. Keep it simple. I create nearly all my presentations using HaikuDeck (you need a paid account if you want to export them to PowerPoint). I created 20 slides, each of which were a single image which represented that part of my talk.

Would you like to use my Talk Planner to prepare for your own talk. You can download a copy here, no email required, just click and it will open in a new window:

MY TALK PLANNER

Let the writing commence

I grabbed my Talk Planner and started brainstorming. I knew that I would be talking about Building a Global Village so my main message was done, then I needed my three pillars, three main points and a call to action.

A quick Google search told me that I should be aiming for between 750 to 800 words for a speech lasting just under 7 minutes.

800 words? Fine, it’s a topic I love and can talk at length about. I formatted my pillars and my main points and got typing.

It wasn’t long before I had cruised way past 800 words.

Time to edit.

I tightened up the language. I got other people to read it. I was really happy with it. And then, it was time for the slides.

Which is where things got a little tricky.

I had a great speech. It had natural break points. Those natural break points did not occur consistently at 20 seconds. They did not fit the slides.

I found this out when I read it out loud and had someone mark off where each 20 seconds fell on a printed copy of the text.

After a small pause to beat the pages of the talk against my desk, I got back to work. I started to chop the talk into 20 core pieces. Some of the pieces ran to 19 seconds (that’s ok, I can add an extra deep breath). Some ran to 40 (that’s ok, I can break them into 2 slides and decide which one to cut later). Some ran to 32 seconds or 14 seconds or some other random number.

“I hated those slides.”

 

 

What happened next?

Once I had forced my slides into some sort of order and practiced daily to keep my pace and breathing in time to the slides, it was time to take it live.

Luckily I was able to rehearse the day before with the other ignite speakers so we could swap tips and make last minute adjustments. This was invaluable.

On the day, I calmed my nerves. I was practiced, I was rehearsed, I was ready. Then it was my turn. I stepped up to the lectern, I got one slide in, and right there is where I got the call that all speakers hate. A voice from the back of the room, “We can’t hear you!”

“My microphone had failed.”

And breathe.

I ripped the mic pack off. Took a deep breath, matched my notecards to the slide on the screen, skipped ahead and just kept going.

The slides are moving, they’ll keep going without you, so you better just go with them.

And I can assure you, that while stressful in the moment, the mic pack died, I didn’t. It is perfectly possible to survive public tech failure.

“By the time I got to my end slide, my call to action, my “are you with me?” I could hear whooping and shouts of “YES!”. Audience engagement, the holy grail for speakers.”

Would I do another Ignite talk? Yes. Despite their easy breezy performance Ignites force you to be disciplined, to really hone what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. I think all speakers should do them.

Which is why I now offer you,

My Golden Tips for Giving an Ignite Talk

• Prepare like you have never prepared for any talk ever before. You cannot wing an Ignite talk. Do not try.
• Make it fun. Ignite’s are fast paced and energy driven. The audience wants to get useful/interesting/amusing information fed to them at high speed. Give ‘em what they came for.
• Use note cards, 20 of them, put each section of the speech on a card and keep it close to you at all times.
• Practice. If you can’t practice in front of people then use an app such as Screenflow to capture your presentation and audio. Then refine and perfect.
• Enjoy it. You may miss a phrase, your mic may break down, your slides might get stuck, you can’t plan for these things and the audience knows it. Just get up there and have a good time.

Don't forget, you can grab a copy of My Talk Planner by clicking this link: MY TALK PLANNER

If you'd like to read through my Ignite talk on Building A Global Village, you can find it HERE.