Pithy Business Rule #1 – Don’t be cheap!

Have you ever worked for someone who was really, really cheap? I mean, so cheap they didn’t buy the cheapest pens, they made you bring your own? What did that do for you as an employee? What message did that send to your customers?

We once made a mistake of 1/2% calculation on sales tax one year, when I was working in a billing office. Our boss made us bill every customer that 1/2% – in many cases the bills were for less than a dollar. We calculated it out – it cost us 1.50 with postage for ever bill we sent out. But, he insisted we send an invoice to every customer, regardless of the cost or the customer.

Well, we invoiced one fellow for 11 cents. A few days later, we got back an envelope, with 11 stamps on it. Inside, the invoice was returned, with 11 pennies taped to it. A rather nasty note was written on it as well. One lost customer – for 11 pennies. We lost about 20 customers that month, 20 customers we couldn’t afford to lose.

Being cheap in business can cost you. When factoring business decisions, always count morale and good will as part of the equation. #LightAFire