Over the last several years a recurring thought kept surfacing in my mind about the constant focus on quarterly profits.  So many companies were, and still are, obsessed with how much money they are going to make in the short term.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a capitalist through and through, but something about this line of thought never seemed to align with my belief that a business must always keep an eye on the larger picture.

Yesterday this dilemma hit home in a very personal way.  Without divulging all of my personal financial dealings, it is enough to say that Citibank was more interested in collecting $2,000 now than it was in retaining my business.  The management representative I spoke with indicated she “wished all of their customers were like me.”  Then she immediately made a poor decision, lost me as a customer, and lost my business for the next 50+ YEARS!!!!  I have no way of estimating how much money Citibank would have earned from my account for the next 50 years, but I am quite confident it would be far more than a measly $2,000.  It’s no wonder Citibank had to take TARP funds when it chases off good customers in exchange for short term profit.

As a business owner or operator, I encourage you to consider each customer/client as an individual.  Yes, there is a need for rules and sound operational policies.  But don’t use them as a cop out for making a poor business decisions that will cost you far more in the long run.  Empower your employees to treat each client/customer as an individual.  As a former retail store manager, I realize how hard it is to navigate the day to day operations and still be able to keep an eye on the greater goal.  If you don’t, you soon won’t have any customers left and your business will be bankrupt.

Tags: Business, capitalist, Citibank, clients, customer service, customers, operational policies, quarterly profits, retail
Categories: Business, Management.

Posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 10:43 am
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