Is The Customer Always Right?

When doing business in a competitive environment, a customer always has choices. If they don't like your price, service, payment plan, or you, they can always do business elsewhere. Often overlooked is the fact that businesses also have choices, they don't have to want you as a customer. To some business owners, this is heresy. They attempt to cater to every customer, thinking that they have to try to eke out every possible dollar. Let's examine some scenarios which prove that you can build a business by not catering first and foremost to your customer.

First, let's look at premium brands and boutique businesses. In economics, the concept of price discrimination basically says you can charge more for a product or service, if you can identify, or create, a demand for it. The most obvious example is a business which sells expensive things to people who can afford them. It obviously works, or brands such as Versace, and store such as Saks Fifth Avenue would not exist. Premium appeal, and a premium price tag. Such businesses realize that not all customers are interested in a bargain. Bargain hunters are not their customers.

Sometimes a peculiar business decision has obvious benefits. Other times they are not readily apparent. Express Fitness Jamaica fits the later description. They are a self described "fitness club" bringing a new kind of gym to Jamaica. Membership gives you access to all five locations across the island. They have an automated billing system through which your membership is deducted from your bank account monthly. They also have fully automated twenty-four hour facilities, which aren't staffed beyond specified hours. The lights come on when there is activity, and turn off when you leave.

Express Fitness' model won't cater to everyone. First, some will be reluctant to provide their banking information for automated deductions. Such customers don't like the idea of relinquishing control of their money, or just don't trust a company with their banking information. The gym also doesn't cater to those who may be at the extreme of body building - they don't offer free weight bench presses or weights above a certain amount. Additionally, the facilities are monitored by surveillance cameras to make sure you're not sneaking others in, or loaning out your membership card. The weight restrictions are due to the fact that the facilities aren't staffed around the clock, and they would rather you not decapitate yourself on one of their benches. The surveillance has the two fold purpose of protecting you and safeguarding their business model.

The fact that there is only one payment option, and the lack of equipment for certain classes of gym users means that they will not attract everyone. But do they need to? Conventional business wisdom says you should cater to all kinds of customers so that you can have a larger customer base. But as we already established, there are business that cater to a subset of potential customers, and that works for them. They are in effect saying 'no' to customers who want to be members, but want to pay using a credit card, debit card, or cash. They are also saying no to customers who want heavier weights, certain free weight exercise options, and constant supervision.

A business doesn't need to win every potential customer to be successful and profitable. And sometimes streamlined and efficient operations beat the complexities involved in catering to everyone. If you could earn money with very minimal effort and low overhead, wouldn't you choose to?

Then there is Apple. This most valuable company and brand has a reputation of disdain for customers, at least that's how it appears to the uninitiated. Apple seems to snub it's nose at customers by making their devices non modifiable and closed physically and in software. Apple believes in making great products by controlling the entire user experience. The success of the first Macintosh, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad all seem to lend credence to that philosophy. So as people continue to call for openness, more features, and lower prices, Apple continues to ignore them. Yet they continue to be successful.

Depending on your viewpoint, Apple may be successful either because of, or in spite of their disregard for customer input. But again, what you think doesn't matter to them. Steve Jobs believed that "people don't know what they want until you show it to them". His goal was to "figure out what they want before they do". This philosophy is the touchstone of Apple, directing their every decision. The $100 billion dollars they have in the bank says they're on to something.

Customers make your business successful, but you aren't beholden to them. And you certainly don't have to cater to everyone. You can and should discriminate by price, choice, or philosophy. It will keep you focused, on the ball, and in the money.

Response To "Muscular Men Make Poor Boyfriends"

This is a response to the article "Muscular men make poor boyfriends: study" published in the Jamaica Observer on July 9, 2012.

My first problem is with the title of this article. I've seen a couple of muscular farmers and mechanics, but I don't think that's who the researchers had in mind. So let's call these men body builders. Wow, what a positive term. These men are building themselves. This immediately softens the sensational nature of the headline. But given the weak nature of the article, it's best that it avoids drawing any extra attention to itself.

Now let's get to the meat of the matter. The researchers assert that "those who aim for bodily perfection, to the point of obsession, are usually narcissistic". Unless narcissism is muscular disorder, I think these researchers have missed the point of their findings. The problem isn't muscle mass, it's narcissistic personality traits which can exist in any group of men - or women for that matter.

Interestingly, one of the researchers admitted that the problematic boyfriends aren't regular gym users, but fixated ones. Thanks for pointing out the obvious! If someone is fixated on something, they will neglect other things, girlfriends included. But it's also possible that they are mistaking dedication for fixation. Is someone who religiously goes to the gym five days a week fixated? And is that a bad thing? If the answer to those questions is yes, then supremely successful men who work six days a week, and men who go to worship...um...religiously are also fixated and would make bad lovers.

As for the women who had bad relationships with 'gym freaks', soldiers, good looking men and the like, we sympathize. But please don't generalize. If you had a bad relationship with a rich guy, would you warn all other women off rich guys?

Finally, let's tackle that comment about the 'scrawny guy with the nice personality'. First, calling someone scrawny is just not nice.  Shame on you for picking on him! And suppose that guy decides to go to the gym, and gets himself some big muscles, what then? Does he suddenly become less of an option? Highly unlikely. But even if he remains a little guy, don't stereotype and overlook him. While you're at it, stop stereotyping the weightlifters too.

Eat Some Mud!

Ever tried to eat mud?  Was it a good experience?  Probably not. But assuming you were a child when you did this (I hope you were), you likely didn't give it much thought before munching away on that dollop of wet earth.  You may have been playing around in the yard when the thought hit you: this stuff looks a lot like chocolate.  You perhaps wondered if it taste like chocolate too.  Hmm, free chocolate, all you can eat too!  And your eager mind didn't waste anymore time thinking, before your little hands went to your mouth.  And from that unthinking act you hopefully learned the difference between food and, well, dirt.

As children, we were creatures of action.  We got a lot done in very few years, learned tremendously quickly, and tried out tonnes of crazy ideas.  Sadly, as we grew older we were conditioned to be thinking, rational human beings.  We were told to think before acting, or suffer the consequences - unwanted pregnancies, wrecking our car after downing one bottle too many, the pleasure of a root canal.  While the foregoing are in fact highly undesirable, thinking before we act has it's exceptions.  Sometimes thinking too much can hamper our efforts at actually getting things done.

Let's take exercise as an example.  You've decided that you should exercise.  Your doctor says you need to.  You've seen your spouse eyeing the next door neighbour with the well toned legs.  And your car sinks just a bit more each time you get in, and it's not the suspension that's the problem.  So there are many good reasons to jog, run, or better yet, get to the gym.  Next, you sit down and think through your schedule, shift around a few things to make some free hours, and mark them off on your calendar.  Finally, you play with your budget and come up with enough money for gym membership and maybe even a personal trainer.  You've thought this through, and you've come up with a working plan.  Good job!

Two weeks later, the only thing you have exercised is your cerebrum, and that's not the muscle you had in mind when you paid for your gym membership.  When the time comes to get to the gym and get on the treadmill, you start thinking yourself out of it: you had a long day at work, going to the gym will only burn out what's left of you; you have a slight pain in your leg, you don't want to aggravate it; your spouse should love you unconditionally, flabby legs and all!  What gives?

Your problem at this point isn't motivation, it's follow through.  And your thinking mind is now your enemy.  If you really want to get to the gym, you better short circuit your brain.  Yep, that's right, don't think about it, just do it!  Apart from the realization that Nike has an apt slogan, you should also see at this point that sometimes you need to stop thinking.  And this only takes a few seconds - you don't want to be out of your mind for too long, it's not healthy.  Instead of thinking, just start doing - put on those sneakers, don the sweat pants, and just start driving to the gym, walking to the park, or running your route.  In fact, in the few seconds that it takes to start dressing for the gym, you will most likely have overcome the inertia of your over-thinking mind.

Once you've done this a few times, momentum will be on your side.  Plus once you start to see the results of your effort, your ego will kick in and keep you going.  Bear in mind that while we focused on exercise, the principles apply to anything in life which calls for action: spending more time with your kids, reading more, taking up a hobby, learning a new language.  You need to stop yourself from thinking just long enough to do it.  So go ahead, eat some mud!  Don't think, just do.