I have come to one of those moments
Motivation to write has been like a snail munching its way through a newspaper in a dark mailbox.
Not quite focused in a single goal, just wandering around taking one bit at a time.
I have been in some pain, slightly disorientated and somewhat distant
I had the wondrous experience of having to visit a dentist, 2 days in a row for 2 teeth.
I don’t need to tell you that Tooth Pain will make even the hardiest turn into a bowl of jelly in the hot sun.
So after visiting the Dentist, well 2 in fact, and still have many more to go, I realised that even though they have overheads etc etc, they are on a far greater wicket than even Doctors I have seen.
My visits last week cost me $1000 dollars for both, and I have 4 more to go, with the last two costing $1500 each
Why you ask are you willing to spend nearly $7000 on 2 teeth, well when you get to my age, you could just have them pulled out and tossed away, or try and restore them, many would just have them pulled out, but one of them is the last upper molar I have on that side, and if I am going to restore that, then the other tooth which is the one below it, might as well be restored as well otherwise what will they bite against ??
But it goes deeper than that.
My partner, the Psychologist and Neuroscientist, tells me that we form an emotional attachment to our teeth, they are part of our identity and part of what allows us to be who we are. Not to mention that they have one of the greatest stings that any part of the body can give us when we don’t treat them right.
These teeth have been with me for just on 50 years, they have become quite adept at allowing me to adapt and they are now something that I value, respect and encourage greatly.
Now imagine if we treat our customers like our Teeth, show them the utmost of respect and value them as if they were part of our business Identity, now there’s is a concept that is worth trialing.
Of course our customers are the most important thing that we have, and our customers are not just the people that walk in the door, or sign up for our sites, the customers are also the suppliers of our products, the script creators, the graphic designers, the copy writers, the servers multitude of staff that allow our online businesses to survive, the real estate agents that lease us a property. Anyone in fact that has anything to do with the existence of our business is our customer.
They deserve the utmost respect and support that you would give to any aspect of what allows you to be you and allows you to exist. Treat them well and they will treat you well.
A good business wouldn’t balk at an investment if it meant another 20 years of the business staying open and being productive. At no point would we want to compromise any of those important aspects of what allows our business to run.
Its no good scrimping here and scrimping there, it depletes strong focus and although may create the illusion of sustainability, Like the snail in the mailbox, at some point of time it will get tossed aside and hindsight of staying the course will serve no purpose then.
So back to the Teeth and the dentist analogy (Because after all that is what this has become). I plan on being around for quite a while yet so I am prepared to invest in my future and as for the Dentist, I have the utmost respect, I mean why wouldn’t you if you are going to let them dig around such an intrinsic part of your existence They started investing in their future when they made the choice to study for 4 years and then to continue to study to keep up with the latest technology so they can stay on top of their game.
So if you find that your business is hemorrhaging and decaying then stick with it, ride out the tough time and invest into moving forwards. Without investment things will just get stale, rusty, decay and fall apart. Stay with the times, bring yourself up to date with what is going on and make sure that all your customers are providing the very best service to you and for you, that they possibly can, which means staying serviced yourself and providing the level of service that you yourself expect from others.
And that, in itself, is a gem, if you settle for second best and you give your customers second best, then expect them to treat you as such. If you find that second best no longer cuts it then re-evaluate, because eventually your customers will want better quality. Don’t be the tooth or the snail that gets tossed aside. Be determined, be focused and be up to date
I know, this is a really clutching type, lame analogy, but I blame the anesthetic that is still eradicating from my system.