Are You Judging Your Customers?

Once upon a time, a father had four sons. As these sons grew, they developed a problem with judgment. So the father developed a plan. In a neighboring country, he found a beautiful apple tree. He sent his first son to see the apple tree in the winter. The second son he sent to see the apple tree in the spring. The third son he sent to see the apple tree in the summer. The fourth son he sent to see the apple tree in the fall. After all the sons had seen the apple tree, he called them all together and asked what they had seen. The first son reported seeing a barren tree without much promise. The second son reported seeing a green tree full of promise. The third son reported seeing a tree full of fruit that was not quite ripe. The last son reported seeing a tree full of fruit ready to eat. Each son had seen the same tree, at a different point in its life.

The customer who comes to us in the winter of their lives may not seem to have much to offer our company. They may come in and make a very small purchase. They may even offer us some problems as a customer wanting to return a product. It may take all we have to remember that the customer is always right. It is important, however, to remember that the customer may become like the heavily laden apple tree. That customer may offer us a huge opportunity in the future.

The customer who comes to us in the spring of their lives may seem full of promise just like the apple tree in the spring. This customer may not be the most knowledgeable about what he or she is doing. We may have to take some extra time with this customer and develop his knowledge. The time spent with this customer is like the time spent by an orchid owner in the spring. The extra time spent with this customer will pay dividends later, just like the orchid owner who must wait for his harvest.

The customer who comes to us in the summer of their lives is ready to explode with promise. These customers require very little help as they are already well on their way to a full harvest. Our job with these customers may be to do a little grooming along the way.

The customer who comes to us in the fall is ripe for the picking. As business owners we wish that all customers would come to us in the fall of their lives. This, however, is not the case.

As business owners we must become skilled at not judging our customers for there is too much of that in their lives already. These kinds of judgments are counter-productive and will kill our business. Do not get caught up in judging customers as the world would judge them.

We must become skilled at assessing what point of their lives they are in. Then we can nourish them to the point where there are ready to produce huge dividends for our companies. More importantly, we can help each person become get to a better place.