I Hate My Customers – And What to Do About It

When a small business owner says they hate their customers, and I’ve heard this on several occasions, it’s time to find out why and make that hard decision to change direction or go out of business. 

Many years ago, I met and became friends with an enterprising couple who started an ‘old-world style’ deli in an upscale resort community. This was no ordinary deli, but a mini version of the prestigious English Fortnum & Mason food hall; unusual and  often expensive gourmet fare, usually only obtainable in sophisticated top-tier big city establishments.

By the time I met the owners it was obvious that disillusionment had set in. The business was more or less holding its own, but after 3 years really hadn’t taken off, as the owners had hoped.  To showcase the gourmet offerings, they served lunch onsite (a break-even or less proposition I later found out), an opportunity taken advantage of by many, who came for lunch, but didn’t feel inclined to take home any of the gourmet offerings to their waterfront mansions.

It gets worse; Roberto, the more vocal of the two owners, was actually voicing his displeasure of his affluent customers; calling them cheapskates! (among other things less printable). After I heard this, I pointed out over a late lunch where I was the only customer in the café/deli, that if he really felt this way should he even continue in business?

More recently I met a very accomplished horticulturalist who had started  a nursery & landscaping business in another upscale waterfront community, where many successful and newly affluent dot.com millionaires were building summer homes.

Her rant went along these lines….”they just sold their company for several 100 million and they complain they can get the exact same plant at HomeDepot cheaper, even though the box store is 50 miles away and my plants are far superior quality”…. My obvious comment was with an anti-customer attitude like that, should you remain in business?

I did the hindsight special, and analysed the start-up process both these businesses went through and I found a common thread:

Customer Profiling

Yes, they had profiled their customer they said, affluent, with funds to buy the very best…. but was this really enough? Check out how to profile your customer.

Customer development

If these two business owners had actually done customer development and circulated in the community, talked to potential customers, and done some testing, would they have opened their businesses in the first place? It’s often helpful to talk to other business owners with a similar focus, and Roberto said he did this a couple of years after he started, and guess what, he heard exactly what he should have found out before he started!

Passion

All of these business owners were passionate about their products; gourmet foods and horticulture, but little thought had been given to really understanding the particular customer they were targeting. Were they passionate about doing business with their customers? Probably not by the end!

Assumptions

In both cases the businesses made the assumption that affluence means their target demographic would pay the price for gourmet food and prime garden products. This proved wrong in both cases. Clearly, they overlooked some other, more important attributes of their audience.

Expectations

Both businesses had expectations that their customers would behave in a certain way and when this proved to be wrong, they felt resentment toward their customers, which eventually came out in their attitude toward the customers.

When you start in a business with a solid understanding of your customer, having done all the research and preparation it takes before you open your doors, you have a far better chance of being successful and not only loving what you sell, but also loving those you sell to. 

(needless to say, both the deli and the plant nursery/landscaper went out of business…..question is; did they learn anything?)