Baby Aggro: Customers Aren’t Children

When most of my average day is spent talking to children, it’s easy to forget how to speak to adults. I need to remember that my customers and peers are not my children, and that’s a good thing. Children are difficult, but my customers are easy!

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that my previous post was about why children are so difficult to have around a professional setting. In this post, I’m going to talk more about my experience with my own customers and how great they are!

Customers Don’t Come First

Alright, so you might be thinking, “Is this guy really going to say ‘customers are easy’, then start off the very next headline with ‘Customers don’t come first’?” I sure am!

I’ve Got Their Back!

My customers want to know that I’m in their corner, but my children need to know that. For me, I’m my kids everything. To a client, I’m their partner or crucial marketing resource. I hope to be my customers’ favorite resource; even their best resource. But I’m not their only option. And likewise, they’re not my only customer.

I enjoy working with my customers and filling their marketing needs. I honestly look forward to building great websites for clients that I know will benefit from the sites. Seeing a website grow in online sales due to our effort is one of the most satisfying things I do on my day-to-day! But I love my kids and they always come first, and that’s okay!

Customers Are Way More Understanding

But look, it’s really not as bad as it sounds. I’ve never had a customer voice their dissatisfaction due to an interaction with my children. And my kids are honestly some of the worst behaved children I’ve ever seen. I’m told every parent thinks that… but I dunno… Gid and Liam seem like special cases to me. haha. And don’t get me wrong. We try to reel them in, but man these boys are wild! My customers have been so understanding though through the years! We’ve even been able to bond on a personal level outside of the business in some cases because of my children.

Customers Can Relate

Honestly, more often then not, if Gid does something loud in the background, my client on the phone and I laugh about my situation. If they have children of their own they often reminisce about when their children were that age. Or else they ask about his age if they have younger children. If a customer doesn’t have children, then we often laugh about how “this is why [they] don’t have kids” or how they can’t wait for their own someday.

The interaction is all really light and casual and just feels natural. I think knowing that I’m not just a robot really helps my customers to relate to me, and me to them.

Reasoning With A Child

If you’ve ever tried to reason with a child, you know that it’s a futile endeavor. However, explaining to a customer that you’ll need to reschedule a meeting due to a particularly ill-behaved 3 year old is surprisingly easy to do. I haven’t had to do this often and I surely don’t intend to make it a habit. But knowing that my customers, other adults, understand what I’m dealing with is comforting.

Customers Still Need Your Attention

Now look, what I am not saying is that my children are an excuse for me not to do my job. That is not what I am saying at all. When I’m hired to do a job, I do that job. That job is not more important than being a parent, but I still need to do it – and do it well.

My customers have come to expect same-day turn-around email communication and often same-day problem resolution. I don’t intend to let my customers down when they come to me with a crisis.

If you’re sensing a shift in tone here, you would be correct. In my next article, I’m going to talk about how and why kids are not an excuse to be unprofessional. I’m going to cover why timelines, integrity, honesty, communication, flexibility, and consistency all matter.