I was in a popular fast food in Abuja last weekend and approached the attendant to place my order and he said “What can I offer you boss?” I can’t remember being called that in a retail experience so I felt it was note worthy. After making my purchase he said “Thanks boss”. Although some people may think the attendant was being too casual, but he was actually right: his customer is his boss.

A lot of people have quit their paid jobs in the name of “being their own bosses” and starting up their own businesses, but in the real sense there are no such things as being your own boss, on the contrary, having your own business exposes you to an even more demanding boss: your customer. An employer can tolerate you not delivering your report before close of business on Friday as agreed, but your customer may choose not to pay the bills if his orders are not strictly adhered to, the customer isn’t bothered how you get it done, just get it done, a customer doesn’t really care if you worked 25hours the previous day, 8 am is 8 am. Think of your customer like an angry teenager. The angry teenager believes that rage is always justified. He rejects the rational approach, replacing it with hot flashes of orders and demands. Facts matter little when they can so easily be replaced by “what I want”. He doesn’t care so much about how a problem is solved as he does having it solved.

The truth is we all have to deal with our customers no more than we have to deal with angry teenagers every now and then. It may not seem fun but it is productive, because your customer is your real boss. He can decide to fire everyone in the company from the CEO on down by simply spending his money somewhere else. I’ve recently been reading Jeffery Gitomer’s book on customer loyalty and its relationship with customer satisfaction and stumbled on some super principles that I really connected with.

“Don’t be fooled by the signature at the bottom of your payroll check – the guy who signed the check didn’t put the money there – your customers did.” – Jeffery Gitomer.

With no customers, there is no money to pay you, your business is worthless, and your wallet is empty. If we treated all customers like they were our boss, we would go out of our way to make sure their experience with us was 10 out of 10. This would change your perspective about customer service and satisfaction. A satisfied customer is a source of invaluable word-of- mouth recommendations and thus can stimulate further purchases. A very key factor in ensuring that your customer (Boss) is satisfied is to first of all understand what your customers want.

Remember every time you tried to impress your boss by going out of your way for something, or making sure you met some deadlines that seemed out of reach? Try doing that for your customers. Act like your customers are your boss, and do everything you can to impress them as if you wanted a raise. Next time you check your bank balance after pay-day or receive your hard copy check, think about whose money that really is. Think about your customers.

In wrapping this up, I’m probably going to have a few people yell out and say, it’s easier said than done Well, I’m here to tell you that is what you should be aiming for. Businesses need to look at ways to create a customer-focused culture, where employees treat customers like the kings. Because let’s face it, at the end of the day… your customer is your paycheck.

Author: John-Stephen Aguinam