It's the Customer, Stupid!: 34 Wake-up Calls to Help You Stay Client-Focused

Chapter 33. Six Rules That Drive Client Results

Rule 33

"Leaders understand that the higher the risk, the more likely the casualties—and the more satisfying the reward."

Today's leadership is about understanding the risks involved in making key decisions—both everyday choices and critical judgments with potentially long-term consequences. Businesspeople consider the risk that's involved in their business. Since risks present situations where money can be potentially gained or lost, most know to tread carefully. Generally, a bigger risk means a bigger reward—but when you swim in the deep water, you have to know the rules. "People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes," wrote Abigail Van Buren. You must know the cost of the risk.

Rule 34

"Customer-driven leaders understand that activity leads to aptitude."

Leaders encourage their team members to get as much exposure and experience as possible, and to track their successes and failures. The more they do, the more they learn. We believe in keeping score in our agency; to that end, our agents file a number of reports each week that track several things:

1. How many clients did the agent actually speak to this week?

2. How many gave the agent an appointment?

3. How many purchased something?

4. What was the value of the appointment (divide income by number of appointments)?

5. What was the value of each phone call (divide income by number of phone calls)?

When you approach your efforts this way, you understand that even a "no" has value. Every time ...