Your Customer 4-H Club

by ActionCOACH David Beam

Here's a way to help you think about the Action concept of A,B,C,D customers.

Your customers are members of your 4-H Club; Hilarious, Happy, Hassle, Horrible

A (Awesome) customers are Hilarious

B (Basic) customers are Happy

C (Can’t Deal With) customers are a Hassle

And D (Dead) customers are Horrible

Think carefully about your customers. Typically about 10-15% are horrible and drain the money and energy from you and your business, and 10-20% are hilarious and are a sheer delight to work with and serve. The other 65-85 % are either basically happy or a hassle.



Your responsibility as a business owner is to free yourself from horrible D customers by finding someone more appropriate to serve them, taking the hassle out of dealing with C customers by raising your prices and better positioning, enjoying your happy B customers, and celebrating and laughing with your hilarious A customers.

Another way to think about this is as follows: Imagine and dream of your ideal customer. What do they say to others about your service and product? How much do they buy from you? How do they treat your team? How concerned are they about your success as well as their own? How do they feel about the value you bring to them and your pricing? How loyal are they?

Do you have a clear picture of these magnificent appreciative people? Here’s the coaching question of the moment: Why would such a customer choose your business?

Why would they buy from you? What changes do you need to make, and what kind of business do you need to create to attract and keep such people?

The truth is that it is our responsibility to create a business that will attract our ideal customers. Stated another way, you will always have the customers you deserve.

My coaching challenge for this week is for you to get with your team and ask these questions, and then create an action plan to start doing and being what you need to be to attract and keep the very best customers. Nathan and I would love to hear some practical ideas that each of you are implementing. E-mail me some of your thoughts concerning this concept. Hilarious, Happy, Hassle, or Horrible. Who you want to work with and serve is your choice.