Free advice is often worth less than the price. Much of the time, you already know what you need to do about something—you just need to do it.
Nevertheless, I hear a lot of things being repeated, and I get asked a lot of the same questions… so here’s my less-than-$0.02 for anyone who cares. As the saying goes, take it or leave it.
***
“The customer is always right.”
Actually, sometimes the customer is dead wrong. Sometimes you don’t want the customer, and if you go out of your way to please one of them, you’ll disappoint the others.
I recently received my first PayPal buyer complaint in more than two years of doing business with Unconventional Guides. Two years! A great streak. Then one guy comes along with an axe to grind and tells PayPal I owed him money despite all evidence to the contrary.
It depressed me. My PayPal rep said I could dispute the claim and I would win, because my account was in such good standing. But in the end I just gave up, sent the money to the axe-grinder, and said goodbye. That customer wasn’t right, but if I kept stressing out about him, my ability to help anyone else that day would have been negatively impacted.
“You should ask people what they want when developing a project.”
Who said that? Oh, it was me. Oops. Well, here’s the thing: sometimes this is true. I’m the first to say that it can be helpful to run your ideas by people, get feedback, etc.
But it’s also true that if what you’re doing is truly innovative, not everyone will understand in the beginning, and maybe you should just go for it. Lately I’ve been thinking about what Henry Ford said:
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses.’”
Consider myself reprimanded. Sorry about that.
“Never check email in the morning.”
I’m on a one-man crusade to say that it’s OK to check email in the morning, or whenever you feel like. If you read blogs about productivity, you know it’s a lonely crusade, but I think I’m on to something. You don’t have to feel guilty if you like checking to see what people have to say to you.
Who knows—maybe that’s even the most important work of the day? OK, I’ll duck now.
“Don’t waste time with Twitter when you could be doing real work.”
What if 25% of your business comes from Twitter? That’s how it works for me, even though in the past 30 days I’ve mentioned my actual business work a total of once. Therefore, I think I’ll keep hanging out on Twitter. And you can too if you want, or not if you don’t want. Oh, and one more thing about this –
“To build a following on Twitter, you should share interesting links and reply to people.”
It’s good to do those things, but they won’t help you build a following on Twitter. The best way to build a following is by doing stuff away from Twitter, and encouraging people who find you elsewhere to add you on Twitter. Yep, that’s how it works.
“You must have a local support team to succeed.”
I think a support team can be very helpful. But what if you’re on your own and no one around you believes in your mission? Those people sound like a non-support team to me. If you have to choose between a non-support team and going it alone, I suggest going it alone.
“Slow and steady wins the race.”
What race are we talking about? It’s probably a good idea to know which race one has in mind before making blanket statements. Some races go to the slow and steady; others go to the fast and furious. See Mario Andretti:
“If you think that you’re in control, you’re not going fast enough.”
Maybe that isn’t your style, but I think there’s a time and a place for it. Speaking of that:
“Good things only come to those who wait.”
Some good things come to those who wait; others come to those who go out and get them. If what you want is in the second category, what are you waiting for?
***
Feel free to add to my list in the comments below. Advice is free! Even when it’s unsolicited.
###
Image: Crazy
June 17, 2010
Barbara Winter
Nicely done, Chris. Priceless, in fact.
June 17, 2010
Becca
I loved this post – it so spoke to me! I know when I check my emails to much and I don’t have the messages that I wanted it bums me out to much! But the ask what they want before you produced it really him home with my website!
If you don’t mind I wanted to share the old school meaning behind a few of the quote people have share here.
The customers is always right, means that even if they are wrong it’s better to treat them like they are right, having a customer scream in the store, or court or whatever will come back to bit you 2-fold. That customer, all those that over heard, and all those that they told!
June 17, 2010
Elaine Huckabay
Interesting timing on your post. Just this morning I was thinking about the rule, “Save for a nice retirement.” Really? Is that all there is? Don’t get me wrong – I am ALL about saving. What about the idea of an un-retirement? Of working throughout life while still living (quite like you are, Chris)? I think we should abolish the idea of ‘retirement’ and live our years of 20-65 in such a way that we both save for the future and not become slaves to our day jobs.
June 17, 2010
Tim Schwartz
I agree with you completely on morning email and twitter – try as I might I cannot avoid either, though despite repeated warnings on contrary I will now continue with your blessing
June 17, 2010
Elaine Huckabay
Also, the customer is NOT always right. You are exactly right in saying that some customers just aren’t worth it to the company, the entrepreneur, the fellow customers, or the culture of a business. Kudos to you for having the courage to point that out (as you have before in other posts on the blog).
June 17, 2010
Becca
You can’t have you cake and eat it too, means if the cake is pretty and you don’t want to eat it, so if you eat it is is gone. (this must have been pre-cameras) It relates to you can’t keep one thing without give up something else. ie: if you buy that car, you’ll loose $ you’ve saved. etc.
Good Things come to those who wait, was about teaching patience, it meant if you wait your turn in line you will be treated better, if you take your time and do something right the first time you will get better results.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, means don’t critize if someone gives you a gift you don’t like or want. You see a horse’s mouth tell the age and health of the horse, so it someone gave you a horse you wouldn’t look into the mouth and say this is an unhealthy old horse in front of the giver.
June 17, 2010
Becca
Oh then there is Don’t put the cart before the horse, this one means do your research before you jump into anything, if you haven’t laid a good plan down first it ain’t gonna work, the cart can’t pull the horse, no matter how well you built the cart.
I say these old saying to my daughter and she’s always asking what does that mean, these were said in my childhood all the time. I thought you might enjoy these old saying’s roots!
Becca
June 17, 2010
Crowsister
Brilliant – I saw a Newsagent confronted by an angry woman who claimed that she had paid for last week’s newspapers twice, he got out the account book; it was not even marked paid once – she was indignant; there was a shop full of people. He didn’t argue; not only refunded her money but marked the next two weeks paid as a good-will gesture. When the shop was empty I commented to him that we both knew the woman and she was always trying to dodge bills and trick people. He smiled at me – “We both know that, all my customers here waiting know that, and I used her as a chance to advertise my kindness, care, and customer skills. I just got the best word-of-mouth advertising ever, they will all be telling the story today around town.” I learned that lesson. You reinforce it for me, thank you.
June 17, 2010
Playstead
Great post, and proves once again that life is just different shades of gray. Always do what works for you.
June 17, 2010
linda esposito
My 2-cents…
People largely gravitate towards convenience, comfort, and status quo, even if unhappy.
If I listened to my clients wants, and did not interject ‘needs,’ I would have a caseload of increasingly anxious and depressed teens and adults, who would grow overly dependent and rarely leave therapy.
Possessing experience, authority, trustworthiness, and respect goes a long way, regardless of the industry.
Also, treating your customers/clients/patients as competent and inherently well-intentioned is critical.
Thanks Chris.
June 17, 2010
Alexis Yael
Hell yes! This definitely spoke to me today!
June 17, 2010
shantilia
Thank you so much for the free advice, especially about having a support system to succeed. I am going at it alone because what few people were in my “support system” I had to let go and I’d also outgrown them in where I am in my life and where I want my future to be.
June 17, 2010
Fabeku Fatunmise
Right on Chris!
I appreciate this not just because it’s outside the box, but because it’s seriously helpful.
I see so many people getting tangled up in the rules. And sweating about the fact that they fall outside of them.
What you’ve said here? It feels like a double shot of comfort + smarts.
I’m betting many are breathing a big sigh of relief. Myself included.
Thanks Chris.
June 17, 2010
Wyman
You can’t create a PURPLE COW if you ask your committee of subscribers what to produce.
June 17, 2010
Deb Mallett
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Maybe in some cases (when time is of the essence), but more often than not it just impedes creativity and progress.
Great post. Agree on all points.
June 17, 2010
johanna
wow chris that advise is priceless (maybe that’s why is free) I once worked in a place where the manager told me “we don’t go with the customer is always right” And i have to say that’s the most confident I have felt at a job.
Is only when i don’t have control over my crazy life when I think that everything will work is also how i feel more confortable living.
thanks for writing
June 17, 2010
Jesse
Sometimes it takes a good leavin’ alone.
June 17, 2010
Kristine Porter
Great job, Chris.
My own quote is “Done is Good!” …when I’m agonizing over too many details of something that doesn’t matter that much.
June 17, 2010
Amber
So damn true. When dealing with clients, I’ve found that setting boundaries of what you are willing to give really makes them respect your time and energy. When I am unavailable all of a sudden my pilates clients want to jump in for a second session. We don’t need to jump through hoops for people, we just think we do.
The biggest take away for me is to simple do more. Do more of what you want and you’ll build the followers who love what you do. I’m learning more and more everyday the importance of defining what you stand for and doing more of it….even if that definition changes.
Always such great inspiration Chris!
June 18, 2010
Eric Tsai
This is my MO and what I coach clients on: The road to success is paved with incremental actions from knowledge. And knowledge without actions is just potential power.
June 18, 2010
Javier Munoz
There is much advice out there that is contradictory. For any subject there multiple views. As a coach, I try not to impose my own way of doing things. The right way for each person emerges as a person flows with a given process. What remains a constant is that you must take action, experiment, play, fail, and succeed.
June 18, 2010
Dave
“You’re throwing your money away on rent.” I’m not saying this is wrong, but it is not necessarily a sweeping truth either. Any home owner can tell you that houses cost money and time, and given the current economic climate they can also devalue. Yeah, in the end, if you stay in the house a while you’ll probably make your money back and then some. But having lived in my home for 4 years I can say this for certain: at least 40% of the time, I long for the days of living in an apartment where I didn’t have to mow the lawn before it rains at 8AM on a Saturday, I could call maintenance whenever something needed fixing, and I didn’t sign over my paychecks to Home Depot. Houses can make you money, but they also cost you time, and time is money.
June 18, 2010
Claire Tompkins
As a time management coach, I cringe when I hear phrases like “don’t check email in the morning.” They’re just sound bites, quotable bits of wisdom to get people talking. The real advice is, “don’t check email when you have other, more important work to do right now” but that’s not as catchy.
As for that Twitter advice, it’s aimed at people who are using Twitter as a video game instead of working, not at those who get value from it (or create it). That said, email and Twitter can be enormous time sinks unless you manage them by limiting your time or having a specific outcome in mind, such as posting 5 tweets about a new product.
So here’s my advice: never say never.
June 18, 2010
Randy
A Sicilian proverb I like says “Don’t ask for what you can’t take.” If you sit back and wait for the universe to deliver your dreams, you’re likely to be disappointed. Life rewards action.
June 18, 2010
Roberta
Chris, stellar post. I always check email in the morning. Sometimes there is something important; most times, I get to catch up on my comics and dailies while I eat breakfast and start (or end the day – I work night shifts).
Charlie Ahern – YES – a friend of mine long ago told me I thought too much and needed to DO – love “ready, aim, fire” as well as Mr. Andretti’s quote “If you think you are in control, you are going too slow.” I have driven autocross which is not real racing but we did learn to push the envelope of our cars and selves. What impressed me in autocross was cars can be repaired; people may not be – so, “be careful out there – but GO!”
Dave – I have a house and acreage which I keep as I have a dog sanctuary here but I long for an apt. again someday w/o the headache of homeownership. As a fav financial columnist whose name escapes me said, it is all about lifestyle, not the bottom line.
Chris – your website is on both my blogs and I get AONC into your own in-box.
June 18, 2010
Grace
Great post Chris! Thanks! In case you wanna know, the Korean translation in the pic says “caution, steep staircase.” They seem to have left out the word steep.
June 18, 2010
Becca
Dave, this one is sooooooooooo true! It just never ends, if you’re there long enough you’ll actually replace the same thing more than once, My folks build there house in the 60′s and were there for over 60 yrs. They had 12 hot water heaters, 6 roofs, 3 furnaces, 2 sets of gutters, 2 sets of windows and about 10 outside paint jobs, followed by siding! Inside they had all Hardwood Floors, then cover up with 5 different carpets, then back to hardwoods again! Orginal cost was around $25,000 with the land, 60 years later it sold for $99,500. I’m not sure they made a profit!
But at the same time it was there to do as they wish with! So as they say “there is no place like home”, or is there???
June 18, 2010
Christiana Briddell
I really like the Henry Ford quote too @emma, @neil, and @karen. I was talking to a friend the other day about how people get stuck in “in the box” thinking so easily. Part of our job as consultants (and just generally forward-thinking people) is to get out of the box. It’s definitely a skill that requires some talent. Sometimes a lot.
June 18, 2010
Filip Rabuzin
Agree with the email. I check it and any social media first thing, usually with breakfast, get it out of the way, reply to anything whilst i’m most motivated to do so, then move on with the rest of my day.
No need to check it again till next morning, free time to focus on other stuff.
June 19, 2010
Jason
My boss’ favorite thing to say is “you have to patience.” Strangely, patience seems to be one of our company’s biggest problems. We are slow to move on almost anything. All the while, our competitors move quickly. It is frustrating to say the least.
June 19, 2010
Patty Golsteijn
Great post! I have never believed in ‘slow and steady’. I’m just not a very patient person. Why wait if I can do things now and fast?
June 23, 2010
sheila joss
the one and only piece of free advice that works for me is “Do something every day towards your goal” I got that off Chet Atkins
June 24, 2010
Berthold
I’ve recently written about this topic as well. Free advice is only as good as the person giving it to you. This is true for tweets – if the person has no real value, their proposing it everywhere won’t change a thing. If on the other hand, offline greatness trickles onto the net, that is worthwhile and remarkable.
Oh and @Patty people who live only by the “now and fast” mentality tend to abandon bigger things because they take a long time and spend too much time flitting between small or half-finished stuff. Like the Hummingbird, they run out of energy quickly. Turtles may not look overly exiting, but they stick with things and reach the biggest goals at their pace. Especially in the fast-paced internet world, those who go at a steady pace last longer.
June 24, 2010
DONNIE NAIR
few things are worth doing as well as they can be done. Master the art of “Good Enough.”
June 25, 2010
Joe Boyle
I guess you proved a very true statement- Every argument has a counter argument. Great post!
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July 1, 2010
Tim Moss
Feels a little impotent to be the 87th person to tell you how much I enjoyed your article but I did, so I am.
I particularly enjoyed:
“…if what you’re doing is truly innovative, not everyone will understand in the beginning, and maybe you should just go for it.”
Thank you.
PS GlobeTrooper Todd (above) – How about this is as a family friendly version: “Patience is a virtue… for other people”
March 1, 2012
Sheila
Steve Jobs was a Ford kind of guy. He believed the customer really did not know what they wanted and it was up to him to figure it out. What really made him a brilliant success, I think, is that he then went a step further and made it easy for the customer to use.
We’re all experts in our field in the sense that we spend the most time there. Much more time than our customers do anyway. So, we should be constantly refining the experience we provide for our customers based on all the experience that we have.
March 7, 2012
Elisa
Loved the Ford quote too. I believe Steve Jobs worked by that quote too.
Although, I think the quote can be balanced with informed choices. Information in support of a clear, personal direction can work just as well. It’s when we’re overwhelmed and discouraged with outside chatter and lose our own vision that things ‘don’t work out’.
Great post Chris!