Everyone used to know that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Yet, these days so much is free, starting with all the information and services we used to have to pay for that are widely available through the Internet.
All these freebies have caught on, with the expectation among many that people should work before they’ve been paid. Strategic thinker and executive coaching expert Dale Williams says that if your customers aren’t paying, they do not deserve to be treated as customers. Ditch them; letters of intent won’t pay the rent, he notes.
That’s often easier said than done, though. Just ask, for example, the many graduates who can’t find full-time work and resort to toiling away for tight-fisted business owners who convince themselves that experience and a reference on a CV is good enough reward.
Be wary, too, of people who threaten to be customers by suggesting that you will be paid for your efforts somewhere along the line. Dale takes a hard line on these types. He suggests that, if you have found yourself in a relationship with a non-paying employer who has held up the prospect of payment but this never quite materialises, this is tantamount to abuse. A bit like being in a marriage with a batterer.
He’s probably got a point, though one wonders if there might be some exceptions. Read Dale’s thought-provoking piece and tell us below this article whether, and under what circumstances, you would work for free or you would expect others to work for free for you. – JC
When listening to customers doesn’t work
By Dale Williams
The customer is not always right.
If we listened to all customers and they were all correct all the time then what we had to offer would be watered down to the lowest common denominator and would be worthless.
The other aspect of customer relationships that we sometimes get wrong is working for people who haven’t yet paid.
Customers by definition only become customers once they have agreed to exchange money for what we have to offer.
Letters of intent don’t pay the rent (thanks David McWilliam 1999).
People and companies who threaten to be customers by making promises which they do not follow through on, do not deserve to be treated as customers.
The same goes for those who were once customers but stopped paying.
These are two cases where listening to customers doesn’t work.
Save your uniqueness for the customers who appreciate it.
If you are running around hoping that your customers one day miraculously turn into well paying and supportive advocates for your work, something which has not happened to date, then you are possibly in an abusive relationship.
