Johnnie – true story
In my early days of business my granny
used to regularly visit me and have a cup of
coffee. A successful local businessman who
used to occasionally offer me advice happened to be in the shop30 The Granny Rule
Would you say it to your granny?That’s the level of respect your
customers need to be given. Look at every piece of communication
within your business as if you were dealing with your granny as a
customer. Of course if your granny happens to be like the wicked witch
from Disney’s Snow White, then you probably need to think of a kindly
aunt instead. (If you can’t think of any kindly old lady you knew as a
child, you may have some personality issues. You should possibly go
and work for the government in some tedious clerical job where you
can complain all the time about the 52 days holiday you get a year.)
But generally we have a high level of reverence for our grannies. We
treat them in a very respectful way because they usually mean so
much to us. They gave us 50p when our parents weren’t looking and
allowed us to eat far more sweets and chocolate than was strictly wise.
It’s this respect that you need to apply to your customers. At the end
of the day it isn’t your granny who pays your mortgage and rent on
your café (unless you’re very lucky) but it’s your customers who do.
You should actually be treating them better than your granny.
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