Once again, I'm attacked by the flu bug and this time it has got me good. This bug is simply persistent; my nose has been running non-stop consecutively for 4 days and today, I'm down with sore throat. Great! I hate to be sick when work is piling and I simply do not have the luxury to sleep in the bed and recuperate.
I've downed a whole bottle of manuka honey, 5-6 packets of lemsip (only to discover today that they are expired) and countless glasses of vitamin C. And nothing works. I'm still feeling sluggish, sick and weak. Maybe the expired Lemsip is making it worse.
I'm so prone to flu that I'm really contemplating to start wearing a mask every time I go out. This is also the very reason why our office has a very strict policy - if you are sick even with the mildest flu, stay away - IF I'm in the office. Because the bug simply loves to attach itself to me, and share the love.
When I was working for other people, I never hesitate to call in sick - and will take at least 2-3 days of MC (exaggerating the severeness of my condition). Now that I run my own business, falling sick is the last thing in my mind - and taking a day off work is totally impossible.
I tried to reply a business email earlier today, but my mind was in such mess that I could not even construct a proper email without making spelling/ grammatical mistakes. So here I am, stuck to the bed, unable to do work! Good riddance! I wonder when this horrible bug will go away and find new love.
In the meantime, I guess I just have to make full use of this moment to rest, sleep and perhaps read a book.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Is customer always right ?
It's Saturday. I received a call from Nik and she sounded agitated and upset. Nothing really upsets Nik unless it is matters relating to our customers. Nik teared a little - and I could hear her frustration over the phone on how irate she was at a customer who was being unreasonable and painfully rude. In our industry, we try our best (in fact, we go beyond the call of duty) to make sure every experience with RedRibbon Days is as pleasant as it can be. Most important of all, we want all our customers to feel happy whenever they experience a RedRibbon Days experience.
But when we already committed so much and yet customers insist on demanding more - that is when we could tolerate no more. Prior to this, I always think yes, customer is King. And being a customer myself, I demand a lot of a product or even a service. But when customers starts demanding for more than what they pay for, then I would beg to differ. Customers are not always right, but they are always insisting that they are right and we are (the service/product provider) wrong.
I am starting to wonder, perhaps I used to be like that too, until I was an owner of a business myself - and I liaised with customers from all walk of life. Some customers are really nice, and some customers are preposterously unreasonable and will say all nasty things to us to make sure they get what they want. The latter group are the ones who pays you for your service and expect a 101% percent return. They simply do not have the simple business acumen - i.e. in a business world, there are invitation to treat (Fisher v Bell) ,exaggerated marketing and of course - every word you say will be used against you.
So I came to a conclusion, not until these people own their own business, they will never fully comprehend this. They are always the group of people who always talk about customer is king and customer is always right. And they are also the group of customers that will always give you problems when they buy from you.
And sad to say, I hate to be bothered by customers like that, and sometimes I rather not have them as customers at all. If you buying from me not only gives me more headache and problems, but tears and heartache (not to mention - a loss), then I'd rather not have your business. There is no one that owns a business and not wish to keep their customers happy - but if all their customers are like the group of unreasonable customers - I'm sure everyone that owns their own business would agree with me.
Customers are not always right, but we always have to give in to them because they always think they are right.
But when we already committed so much and yet customers insist on demanding more - that is when we could tolerate no more. Prior to this, I always think yes, customer is King. And being a customer myself, I demand a lot of a product or even a service. But when customers starts demanding for more than what they pay for, then I would beg to differ. Customers are not always right, but they are always insisting that they are right and we are (the service/product provider) wrong.
I am starting to wonder, perhaps I used to be like that too, until I was an owner of a business myself - and I liaised with customers from all walk of life. Some customers are really nice, and some customers are preposterously unreasonable and will say all nasty things to us to make sure they get what they want. The latter group are the ones who pays you for your service and expect a 101% percent return. They simply do not have the simple business acumen - i.e. in a business world, there are invitation to treat (Fisher v Bell) ,exaggerated marketing and of course - every word you say will be used against you.
So I came to a conclusion, not until these people own their own business, they will never fully comprehend this. They are always the group of people who always talk about customer is king and customer is always right. And they are also the group of customers that will always give you problems when they buy from you.
And sad to say, I hate to be bothered by customers like that, and sometimes I rather not have them as customers at all. If you buying from me not only gives me more headache and problems, but tears and heartache (not to mention - a loss), then I'd rather not have your business. There is no one that owns a business and not wish to keep their customers happy - but if all their customers are like the group of unreasonable customers - I'm sure everyone that owns their own business would agree with me.
Customers are not always right, but we always have to give in to them because they always think they are right.
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