Make it easy for your customers to do business with you. This concept is so important to developing and building stronger customer relationships that I’m going to focus just on that for a moment.

As a customer, have you ever walked into a place and heard the phrase “That’s our policy?” Those words are like a slap in the face with a cold, dead fish. I’m certain you don’t like hearing it, and I certainly didn’t appreciate that approach to my seemingly altered check at the bank. Well, neither do your customers! Even if you fill a very unique niche with your product or service, if you stand on policy or your terms and conditions at every turn, customers will figure out how to get what they need from someone else.

My dental office has a sign posted right on the reception desk about their rules and policies. Is that really what I want to see as soon as I walk into the office? Of course not. No one does. You immediately send a bad message to your customers with that type of signage. In effect, you’re saying “Here are all the hoops you have to jump through and all the bridges you have to cross before we’ll take your money.” It’s a cardinal sin to make it difficult for customers to hand you money!

Since I believe that 98 percent of people are honest, I do not want to create policies, procedures, terms, and conditions to combat the 2 percent who seek to take advantage of me. Creating policies and procedures to combat the dishonest 2 percent makes it more difficult and a less-pleasant experience for the 98 percent of honest people to give you money—also known as profit! Sure, we need to be smart business owners, but I strongly encourage you to not overreact to the occasional negative situation. Instead, stay focused on the larger picture.

Make certain you are easy to do business with.