All Circuits Busy, Dear Customers

"Many companies that have gone bust didn't die because of the recession. They failed for one reason: They treated customers poorly." So says Inc Magazine in its May 2009 edition. "When I actually needed a new TV, however, I found the Circuit City salesperson to be so aggressively unknowledgeable and remarkably useless that I fled to Best Buy, where I was helped by a cheerful, 20-year-old twerp who knew everything." Says 2010 Marketing Experts: Customers cannot be taken for granted. They are your income. You are overhead. Treat them well and they will buy from you. Survey them. Ask them. Don't tell them.