A Startup Guy

I know it seems like common sense, but don’t make it hard for your customers to give you money. There are few things more frustrating than wanting to give your cash to a business and they put up roadblocks. The other day, I was trying to pay a utility bill over the phone. I usually pay online, but wasn’t near a computer. I waited nearly 10 minutes on the phone to pay. I guess they figured I had to pay them so I wouldn’t have up, though I was sorely tempted.

But paying utilities aren’t the only place I’ve had this happen. I’m sure we’ve all had to stand in the store waiting to give them our hard-earned money while employees stood around talking to each other, talking to outside friends or talking on the phone. Most of us have tried to buy products online and had trouble simply completing the process. Too many unnecessary fields to complete or you simply can’t find the button to buy.

As a business owner, you’ve worked so hard to get customers in the door, build their interest in your product and finally gotten them to pull out their cash to hand to you. Don’t turn your back on them. Don’t make them reconsider while they’re sitting on hold. No matter how many times you’re recording tells them that their call is important to you, actions speak louder than words. Make them wait and they don’t feel important.

Take a look at your business from the customer’s point of view. Look at your sales process. If you’re removed from the sales process, be a customer. Make a purchase on your website as if you had never seen it before. Do you have roadblocks? If so, knock ‘em down and pave a smooth road for those valuable people trying to give your their money.

Image via CrunchBase

Two of my favorite non-fiction authors, financial expert Dave Ramsey and marketing expert Seth Godin, are frequently lambasted by detractors because their teachings are “common sense.” My reply to these naysayers is generally, “Well, DUH!” Common sense is frequently not all that common. I’m not talking about extreme cases such as biting down on a blasting cap or falling asleep under a truck in the tide . I’m talking about simple concepts.

Dave Ramsey says, “Live on less than you earn.” Detractors say, “Of course. Who doesn’t know that?” My answer, “Apparently, just about everyone.” Or at least they don’t pay attention to this “common sense” advice. The US government debt is $10 TRILLION. That means the federal government has spent $10,000,000,000,000.00 more than it “makes.” The average US household debt (not including mortgage) is $14,500. One out of every four purchases is made with a credit card. We LOVE spending more than we make. So much for “common sense.”

I plan to periodically post some of these “common sense” lessons on here. Some are dumb things I’ve seen other people do. Many are the dumb things I do myself. In any case, I hope you’ll take note of them and maybe you can avoid some of the potholes of life.

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