Make Customers in Prosperity

One day, a sick Kite, who was on his death-bed due to illness implored his mother “Do not mourn, O Mother, pray and invoke the blessings of the gods and my illness will be cured”. His mother replied in grief, “Son, which God will pity you? You have outraged all by pecking at the very altars on which offerings were made to them”.

The original translation was “we must make friends in prosperity if we are to take their help in adversity”.

My take on the moral of the story is “Do not take your customers for a ride because when the competition really hots and up and the economy is tight, they will desert you”.

In today’s competitive world, where the acquisition cost of a new customer is so very high, it makes more sense to retain existing customers. A company alienates its customers mostly on small issues, like small charges hidden in the very fine print. When a customer figures it out, there is usually a sense of outrage.

While it is a given that costs have to be recovered from customers, the effort has to be on providing correct and relevant information on why it is so. This can only happen when the front line people are adequately trained.

A well trained workforce is a key to company’s growth and prosperity.