Tell Hetrick

I used to live in New England. From time to time, my wife and I would drive north along the Atlantic coast to Maine. En route to Penobscot Bay or Bar Harbor, we’d always stop in Freeport to visit L.L. Bean, the famed purveyor of outdoor equipment and apparel.

The folks at L.L. Bean are big on customer service. One company philosophy in particular—called “What is a customer?”—made a big impression on me. So I adapted it slightly for myself and my business.

My contemporized version, with apologies to L.L., goes like this:

What is a client?
Clients are the most important people ever in this company—in person, online, on the phone or by mail.
Clients are not dependent on us; we are dependent on them.
Clients are not an interruption of our work; they are the purpose of it.
We are not doing a favor by serving clients; they are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so.
Clients are not people to argue or match wits with. Nobody ever won an argument with a client.
Clients are people who bring us their problems. When they profit from the solutions we offer, we profit.

Does your client or customer philosophy live up to L.L. Bean’s standard?