Categories
About Me blog Change Clients Customers Decisionmaking Entrepreneurship Inspiration Leadership Leadership Principles Mentor Motivation Training Walking Leader

Why I Empower All My Customers And You Should To!

Some say empowering your customers is the greatest gift you can give your customers. I agree.

I wholeheartedly agree when it comes to making your customers, your clients better. By empowering them, you also make them better clients and customers. Having better clients and customers you have greater success as a business and as a leader. However, what about your best customers? Don’t start segregating the best from the good from the mediocre from the bad.

Don’t Do It!

All your customers turn to you because you are the best.

All of them are your best customers/clients.

Whether they spend $10 a year or $10,000 a quarter, each and every customer is worth your best. Some businesses focus on the top tier $$$ based customers. Some focus solely on the top and mid tier customers. Too few focus on ALL customers from all tiers or levels of money spent on the company’s product or service. Unfortunate for those businesses that refuse to look beyond the top tier as they will never realize the power the mid and lower tiers bring.

Sure most people and organizations have every right to believe that the top 20% bring 80% of the wealth. However, at any moment any of the 80% that bring the 20% can suddenly jump into the top 20% and if your organization is not doing anything to empower that customer/client then rest assured that individual or group will go someplace else. Guaranteed!

If you can’t find time for them, then don’t be surprised when they don’t go looking for you. Do not be surprised when they give their money to someone else.

This is why empowering all your customers is best! That is why I empower ALL my customers and clients. It is not that I expect something in return. I empower them to make the right decisions based on the knowledge, wisdom and skills I share with them. That means I am not only make my customers smarter, I am giving them the tools to use my products or services to the best of their ability. I share with them all that I know about my products and services.

I do this in hopes that they can understand what I bring to their organization and with that understand they can communicate back to me about any ideas, changes, concerns, or questions that serve to ultimately make the products and services better.

You bring them into the fold. You bring the customer behind the counter. You make the client part of the team, part of the creative team. They are now empowered to be innovators of the next version of the product or service.

Being members of the team, your customers/clients are now a valuable component of the organization. This is a component that pays you. They pay you by buying the product or service. Then they continue to pay you by providing the feedback. While feedback is not guaranteed, it is something to expect from some or more of all your customers. Those that provide that feedback will provide feedback that will be most valuable to your and your organization.

Now be careful when you empower them by bringing them into the fold. Too much, too soon may be intimidating and cause the client/customer to withdraw. The same applies for the opposite: too little, too slow. When things move too slow you run the risk of the customer or client losing interest in what you are doing or trying to do.

It will be difficult but if you truly want ALL your customers and clients to be the best they can be then go ahead and empower them. The return on that investment may astound you.

As always, if you questions please feel free to reach out and contact me.

by David G. Guerra, MBA
Author of the Walking Leader and Great To Follow
twitter: @DaveGuerra
instagram: dave_guerra

 

Categories
About Me blog DareToBe Decisionmaking Followership Inspiration Leadership Mentor Motivation Walking Leader Writing

Be Strong. Be Fearless. Be Wise.

0901-NOONER

I am strong because I have been weak.
I am fearless because I have been afraid.
I am wise because I have been foolish.

Can you say those words? Can you make that affirmation or will it make you feel weak, afraid, and foolish in front of others?

There is nothing wrong with looking like a fool or being afraid or appearing weak? Yet, too many people would rather live a mediocre life because they are afraid of walking out on the ice. Not knowing how thick or thin, it is. Are you afraid of looking like a fool when you speak to a crowd but nobody hears? Scared of being perceived as weak because your hopes and dreams are not the same as anyone else? Well, you are not alone, come in from the fear.

Too many times, we don’t do what we believe we should do because of what will the neighbors think.
To put it bluntly; screw what others think or believe.

They are not the dream of dreams and most certainly, they are no prize. Though they might believe they are but we know better. They are just regular everyday people who have their own problems, shame, guilt, and most of all, their own shortcomings. Just like you and I do. They might not show it because they are working at creating a façade that looks pretty but serves no true purpose. Add that to their feeble attempts to try dictating the conversation or manipulating the impressions of others. In the end, what does that get you? Nothing!
I know what it is like to be laughed at. I know what it is to be called a coward. I also know exactly what it is to be called a joke. Whether they want to read it or not or admit it or not, I have been called a coward, a joke, and laughed at by, believe it or not, those who I needed the most.

Does that stop me from needing them? No, it does not, as a matter of fact, I need them now more than ever. However, it does stop me from returning to them like a moth to a flame. Once you can break the cycle of returning to the place where you are burned then can you start to grow, change and become better. Nevertheless, for as long as you wallow in that misery and enjoy being burned you become more and more entrenched in that misery.

Remember, I know you are better than that. You can make that change. Admit your shortcomings and start to work on them. Then and only then can you be better than you were yesterday.

On the positive side, I have been called a hero, a wise man, and have had people laugh with me. it is a great feeling knowing that you are respected for what you are and not for what others want you to be or where they would rather keep you, typically beneath them.

That is, unfortunately, more than others can say about themselves.

Be Strong. Be Fearless. Be Wise. Be Better Than You Were Yesterday!

xxx

Categories
About Me Change Her & Him short story Writing

Her & Him: The Backseat – a very short story by David Guerra

I have been tinkering with the idea of writing in a different genre. While I am not abandoning Historical Fiction, I am considering something else.

Here is a little something to give you an idea of what I am talking about. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.


The Backseat by David Guerra

“Where is it?” an adult woman’s voice asks.

“It’s right there,” the accompanying adult male responds.

“It’s too small,” with a little frustration in her voice she replies.

“It is not too small. It’s right there. You are not working it right,” he says with a little frustration in his voice, as well.

“I am working it right. It is just too small,” she sarcastically or matter-of-factly replies.

He can’t tell.

“Do I have to do it, again?” as the level of frustration in his voice slightly increases he asks.

“No! I can do it. If you let me do it.”

“What does that mean?” slight discomfort replaces the frustration.

“I mean, you do it all the time and I hardly do it, so I want to do it.”

“What do you mean I do it all the time?” now the discomfort comes out.

“I’ve seen you doing it,” she replies with a slight knowing smile on her face as she looks at him.

“Oh,” is his humble response.

“Oh? This is not the time to become shy. Now scoot over, let me get my fingers on it and let me try,” she says with a tone of deliberate intent.

“OK,” he says as he shifts his body over give her room to work.

Soon the SUV is rocking and swaying back and forth. Luckily, where the SUV is parked there is little to no chance of anyone walking by. If there were from the outside, passersby would not see what is happening on the other side of the vehicle’s dark tinted windows. Then again, why would anyone want to see the activity inside a parked swaying vehicle?

It’s a little bit later now. Maybe three minutes later.

After numerous near misses, a lot of shifting of bodies and fumbling fingers the female voice from inside the SUV calls out, “Yes, Yes!”

“Yes! I think you’re getting it,” he says with some excitement in his voice. His increased breathing gives his excitement away.

“Oh gawd yes, finally,” she joins in with her exhilaration knowing the end is near.

“What does that mean?” he asks as all the excitement has left his voice.

“Damn it! Don’t start, you’ll ruin it,” vainly holding on to what is left of her excite.

“Ok, Ok, come on hurry up so we can go back inside. The windows are all fogged up,” he says as he tries to regain his composure.

“I know right. We’ve been out here too long but I didn’t think it would take this long. Usually you are done in a minute or two.”

“Yeah, but I am usually alone or without an audience,” with the wind out of his sails he replies.

“Sorry, I didn’t think you were sensitive about this.”

“Hey, sometimes the male ego can only take so much of a beating,” stating his case.

“You can say that again,” she says with a slight knowing smile and a slight gleam in her eye.

“Huh? Oh never mind, look what happened,” they both look at it and he continues, “We started talking and now you don’t have it.”

“My you do distract easy,” now she is full on with a small wicked smile.

“OK, now what does that mean?” he asks.

“It means when you lose concentration, I lose concentration and now we have to start all over again,” she says as she plays all her cards.

“Me, lose concentration?” he asks, “You are the one hell bent on doing it. So let’s do it!”

“Fine. Let’s do it. Wait a second look at it,” they both look at it and she continues, “It looks smaller.”

“It’s not smaller. It the same size it has always been. You are just looking at it wrong.”

“I know,” she says with a smile and a wink, “Let’s get situated again, so we can finish.”

“Yes, let’s.”

The man and the woman adjust themselves in the backseat of the SUV. She moves just enough to get her hand back in the right position and he moves ever so slightly to not crowd her but to give her enough room to work with comfort and to get the job done.

A minute or two later and after more moving, fumbling around, near misses and some frustrating moments.

“Yes!” she calls out sensing the end is now really truly seconds away.

“Yes?” with a slight sense of doubt that it is finally happening.

“YESSSS!!!” a great sense of accomplishment overcomes her.

“I knew you could do it,” he says as he looks down to see her handy work, “See, it’s not too small you just had to get your fingers around it to work it and the rest was easy.”

“Yes but it wasn’t too easy getting to that point,” she adds, “Next time, let me do it from the start or do it by yourself.”

“Next time?”

“You know there will be a next time. There is always a next time,” she says.

“True. Come on let’s go inside. It is really humid in here. Beside we got to clean it before someone wants to use it, again,” he says as he becomes aware of his surroundings, “Look at windows they are not only fogged up but already running with condensation.”

“How long were we out here?” she asks.

“A couple of minutes at most.”

“Felt like hours to me,” she quickly adds.

“Now what is that supposed to mean?” he says as he wonders how does she do it to be so quick witted.

“Nothing, just that I was the one doing all the work.”

“You wanted to do it,” he retorts.

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” she states, “I just wanted to make the best of the time we had alone. Besides how often do you and I get to spend some alone time in the back of the SUV doing anything even this?

“Not enough,” he says as he leans over to kiss her as he opens the back passenger door.

“Next time, we do this promise me we turn the AC on.”

“It’s a deal,” he says as he help her out of the SUV.

She hugs and kisses him.

He returns the kiss as he wraps his arms around her, she lets his hands roam down and grabs two handfuls of her ample bottom.

“Settle down you. There is no time for that, I have to go clean this pacifier before you know who wakes up.”

He agrees and turns around to go back to the SUV.

“Where are you going?”

“Going back to figure out how that pacifier keeps falling in between the floor board and the side panel.”

The End…