"No Dickheads" is non-negotiable

only one way to go....

I touched on this subject in a-post about people. Whether you choose to put it on the wall writ-large for all to see, or subtly hint at it in your values statement, or even just embed it in your culture without express acknowledgement. Please ... do at least one of these.

We all understand how good performance does not compensate for poor behaviour and how some people just create friction, noise, ill feeling and toxicity - even if they are great at what they do. It's never easy to grasp this particular nettle and move on a great performer who eventually and often unknowingly is perceived by all to be .... a dickhead. Most organisations get there in the end. Albeit, it sometimes takes much longer the more senior the dickhead in question happens to be. I have worked with a few dickheads along the way. The universal reaction to moving one on is a huge sigh of relief .... followed by a surprising release of previously hidden opinions that confirm the correct decision has been made..

Same conundrum but different setting: Customers.

We have all grown up with the mantra that the customer is always right. This is of course a gross generalisation and abjectly not only wrong but in flagrant denial of the laws of probability. It is clearly possible that a customer can be wrong. It is also possible that the customer is acting like a dickhead (more likely the individual involved but possibly also the customer culture - it does happen). The mantra in question essentially hints at the fact that you value customers business and revenue so much that if they are wrong or acting inappropriately then you don't confront them for fear of upsetting them and eventually losing their business.

Without customers there is no business. Without revenue there is no employment, or value. Customer are, therefore, to be retained, valued, and constantly delighted with the product or service that is delivered. Of course. But in the same way that a well-performing person can be a dickhead then so can a value-generating customer can act like one. and if that is a recurring situation, that is not removed by remedial action, then the solution is the same.

Poor customer behaviour can come in many forms - the most obvious is the relentless rudeness and demeaning of your staff - making their job difficult or plain miserable if they have to contact this customer. It can also be a bluntness in commercial relationships where they show no compromise when it is reasonably required. They might think they are always right - because they are the customer. They might sign up to an agreement or a way of working and then fragrantly ignore key parts of it because .... well they can , can't they. This might simply involve not settling your invoices on time. There is a long list.

The point of this post is to say that toxic customers should eventually not be tolerated. In the same way that "No Dickheads" applies to your own team. Because the results are the same - people won't want too work with them because they become toxic.

Its a really tough decision to make but "No Dickheads" is a rule with more general application across your business (to your people, your suppliers and even your customers) - it will make things better for everyone - eventually even those with toxic behaviour.

Despite the pleas of the sales team, I have refused to re-sign with some past customers who acted , frankly, like dickheads in the past. Despite the waves of assurances that they had changed and everything would be ok this time. Equally I have given my team the empowerment to tell customers to "go-away" if they have proven that a customer is acting inappropriately - especially as is often the case to those who are genuinely trying to help. I even recall jumping in a car to confront a supplier with the fact that I would no longer tolerate their long-term recurring poor attitude and behaviour. I served them notice there and then.

Sometimes you just have to have some principles that you stick to. The "No Dickheads" rule is a tough one to apply sometimes, but it's not negotiable.