The Thin Line

I’m sick.

I’m grumpy.

I’m more irritable than normal.

I love my customers.

I know, that was an odd progression, but it will make sense by the time you finish reading this.

Normally, when I release a product, I have total control.  I handle the support, the delivery, and the content.  With Link Wheel, that’s not the case and it’s caused some frustration for my best customers.

My partner, Ankur, is not used to the way I do things.  He’s done everything in his power to adjust and try to follow my standards, but I set them higher than the clouds.

It’s been an interesting challenge to turn Link Wheel into what my vision is.  Ankur knows his stuff.  However, I have my ideas and have insisted that certain things be a part of our software.  He’s bent to the point of nearly breaking.

Tonight, I emailed Ankur to let him know that I was upset over new support issues I’d become aware of.

His response was to let me know that he’s very ill and in the hospital in India.

2 of my customers had emailed me to let me know that it had been awhile since they had gotten a response from him, so I emailed them immediately to let them know that he was in the hospital and would get back to them right away.

The first response was from one of my best customers.  He asked if I would be able to help him and I had to, regrettably reply with a “No”.  His response was Ok.  It was clear that he was frustrated, but he understood that it was out of my control.

The other customer responded with a snide, condescending refund request.

Ankur handles all of the money for Link Wheel along with the support and programming of the software, so I responded that he would still have to wait and that I was amazed by his insensitive response.

You see, this customer had emailed me 5 times in 3 days with detailed questions related to link building and SEO strategy.  He felt that his purchase had given him direct access to my email and that I owed him free help.

The problem with that lies in the fact that he did not purchase coaching from me, he purchased software.  The software comes with very clear directions and a video from me that explains exactly what to do to achieve the best possible results from it.

Instead of watching the video and reading the directions, he decided it would be better to bug me with silly questions that were already answered elsewhere.

It’s a thin line between supporting my products and making my customers happy and becoming a doormat for customers to stomp all over me.

I don’t just sell software.  I’m an information marketer, a coach, a speaker, an author, etc…  I sell information.  People pay me to coach them.

I also demand respect from any and everyone.  I have earned it.

I provide endless value for free and undercharge for all of my products.

My time is the one thing that I refuse to part with for free.  While I normally answer my toll free number when calls come in, I will not sit on the phone for 2 hours “hanging out” while I have work that needs to be done.  I have a family that (I’m lucky) wants to be around me.  Every moment spent answering questions or providing free help takes me away from them.

I charge $500 per hour for consulting.

If a customer has a question related to the usage of one of my products or is facing an issue that I need to address, I welcome the calls and support tickets.

If a customer has a sense of entitlement, thinking they can bug me 5 times a day, email me whenever they want, and call me for fun, I have no choice but to recite from the apprentice – “You’re Fired”.

Am I crazy, grumpy, or ridiculous in my statements and story?  I’d love to hear what you think in the comments section.