Salt in butter
It is tempting to invest resources and develop plans to grow and have a controlling position in your market. “Lock-in” contracts, specific terms and conditions, sticky services—there are countless ways we can make a customer move to a competitor disruptive.
While these tactics can be hugely profitable (lower customer churn, recurring revenue, higher company value), over time, they can create friction in a relationship.
In one case, you can serve the customer the best because you are secure about the relationship. You and the customer know each other’s modus operandi. Your relationship is more of a partnership.
In the other case, you can say, “we need to protect ourselves from frivolous liability claims, negligence of someone, and other adverse or deceitful attacks. They may be a little cumbersome, but in the event of a crisis, it’ll work better.”
A better choice is to build a corporate culture that can handle (or even thrive) when there is a crisis. Rigid tall trees in the path of cyclone do not hold up very well. The trees that are flexible and bend in a storm survive.
A predisposition to delight your customers is excellent. Still, to defend and protect from fraud and frivolous claims, you must stay alert and install barriers to possible competitive attacks.
A little salt in butter does not destroy the beneficial attributes of butter. It saves butter from going bad.
Satish Mehta
Author, Speaker, Coach
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