A clever man commits
no minor blunders.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

usiness is booming. You are running from one appointment to the next, answering your cell phone and rushing back to the office to answer e-mail. You're receiving big residual checks, new merchants are beating down your door and existing ones are adding new services. Things couldn't be better.

But would your merchants say the same?

If you are enjoying success, be careful not to get swept up in the frenzy increased business often brings. Taking your company to new heights requires that you give careful thought to your customers' needs. Otherwise, you'll leave them behind.

Spreading yourself too thin will never be in with your clientele.

Misguided behavior

Everyone deserves to be rewarded for hard work and dedication. But, if you count your profits before you make sure your customers can count on you, you'll soon have no more profits to count. Here are some behaviors that drive customers away in droves and indicate a change of focus is in order:

Providing adquate service to all and exceptional service to none: A common risk when you are serving many clients is doing everything fairly well but nothing extremely well. If you're in this boat, mediocrity will sink you.

Giving clients the impression they aren't important, or quite as important, as the next guy: If you are hurrying from one appointment to the next, what impression are you giving your merchants? If they think you offer more time and effort to other clients, you're in trouble.

Making your customers work with your schedule when it should be the other way around: If your schedule is so packed that you have only a brief window of time for your merchants, they will get irritated. If you are late for appointments, or cut meetings short, they will notice.

Complaining about how busy you are: If you are having a hectic day, you may be tempted to complain to your merchants.

Your merchants should be telling you how busy they are and how well they are doing. They don't want to hear about your work-flow problems. They want to hear how you are going to make their jobs easier.

Morbid consequences

If some of those less-than-optimal behaviors seem all too familiar, you are probably frustrating your customers, opening up the door to the blame game and limiting your future success.

If your merchants feel they haven't received the best service possible, it sets a bad foundation for your relationship. For example, if you don't set up a new piece of equipment for them in a timely fashion, they may blame a slow sales month on you. Your behavior may have had absolutely no effect on sales, but that doesn't matter. What matters is their perception of the truth.

If your merchants think you're treating them like second-class citizens, they will be less likely to cut you any slack should problems arise. In their eyes, a legitimate snafu will be just another example of how they aren't getting the service they deserve.

People talk, customers talk. If a client feels slighted, it will damage your reputation and cost you repeat business and valuable referrals.

Dissatisfied customers won't stay with you indefinitely. They'll look for someone who has the time, energy and resources to give them the exceptional service they deserve.

Magnetic planning

If you're busy, go ahead, enjoy your success. But as your business grows, you need to grow too. Here are some tips:

• Hone your time management skills.
• Create a new business plan to accommodate your newfound prosperity.
• Keep your lines of communication open with customers so they always know they are your top priority.
• Hire qualified people to help you assist your customers in the manner that attracted them to you in the first place.

Then your customers will know you value them. They'll refer their friends to you because they know you're dependable. And you'll never be spread too thin.