Another early U.S. arcade operator magazine ad, this one for 1982's BurgerTime, released in North America by Data East and Bally. [Ad scan via the VGHF Library.]
I love that @TheRevAl is confident enough in who he is and the importance of whatever he is doing right now that he goes on MSNBC from some device in a car with bad video. You go Rev. Powerful example of conducting oneself properly.
This is a fundamental business principle that I've seen many people fail to grasp. "The customer is always right" is incorrect and is bad advice. I've personally seen this be exploited by the largest companies in the world to manipulate their suppliers.
Not all customers are created equal.
Apply the 80/20 principle to time consumption: What 20% of people are consuming 80% of your time? Put high-maintenance, low-profit customers on autopilotβprocess orders but donβt pursue them or check up on themβand βfireβ high-maintenance, high-profit customers by sending a memo detailing how a change in business model requires a few new policies: how often and how to communicate, standardized pricing and order process, etc.
Indicate that, for those clients whose needs are incompatible with these new policies, you are happy to introduce other providers.
βBut what if my largest customer consumes all of my time?β
Recognize that (1) without time, you cannot scale your company (and, oftentimes, life) beyond that customer, and (2) people, even good people, will unknowingly abuse your time to the extent that you let them.
Set good rules for all involved to minimize back-and-forth and meaningless communication.
Hmm, okay, so I have to post things, to be active, to be allowed to pay $8, to get to be verified, in order to get in line to play with grok. While it's a chain of bargains, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Hi twitter. I'm still me.