Time to Fire Your Friends

The annual Fall Guy Golf Trip is just 6 weeks away. Bad golf (at least by me), cold beer, “entertainment” and a bunch of laughs. Usually coincides with the first regular season weekend of NFL games, so hope that works out, too. We don’t go TO the beach, but it’s AT the beach.

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Got a note from the former neighbor, who’s no longer a neighbor, but I’ve known for years and we stay in touch. Here’s the date, who’s going, are you in or not? It’s one of those annual rituals that helps mark the passing of time.

These look like pretty good guys, you say, why would you want to fire them? They dine and dash, leaving you with the ginormous bar tab?

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Reading an article this week on the relative value of customers, got me started thinking about the relative value of friends.

The folks at Marketing [M.O.] say it’s basically a “when, not if” thing when it comes to firing your bad customer. I don’t know about you, but in my world, good friends are HARD to find… and like good customers, worth keeping.

So, what if you rated “problem friends” like you would “problem customers”:

  • The Check is in The Mail. Friends like this, umm, “check”.
  • I’m outta here unless…. Friends based on a little something extra? Got those for sure.
  • Chronic complainer. If they are complaining to you, they’re complaining ABOUT you.
  • Captain Rude. ‘Nuff said. Oh, and bonus- just add alcohol…
  • Other (Guy/Gal) Does it Better. Sure they do, and you’re here, why?

Do Me Dave

Continuing the thought line from the Marketing [M.O.] article, you need to first:

  • Determine the friend (customer) Lifetime Value, and then,
  • Estimate the friend (customer) replacement cost

I think calculating the hole left is exactly why we don’t decide to simply let more friends go. Dealing with them is better than dealing with losing them. So hard to get, but even harder to let go.

Sperring

So, in case you didn’t get my text…

Jeff, and Dave, and maybe even Rob this year, I hear- I’ll be there. Once a year. Good laughs and bad golf. Memories to be made that I wouldn’t miss for anything.

Oh, and two off the first tee?

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The full Marketing [M.O.] article is here:

http://www.marketingmo.com/how-to-articles/customer-service/when-to-fire-your-customer/

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Posted at 7:34 PM (10 months ago) | Permalink