“You should never assume. You know what happens when you assume? You make an ass out of you and me because that’s how it’s spelled.” – Ellen Degeneres
Making assumptions is easy, we all do it every day and sometimes these snap judgements help us to make decisions on how to move ahead with the facts we have available; but whilst it can be a helpful tool (and therefore not to be discounted entirely) in those moments it’s good to remember that it’s not based on concrete information, just what you know at that time.
As a business owner however, there are some things that you should never assume and here’s our top 5:
- Never assume your business relationships are fine, everyone could always use a little extra attention and important contacts can be lost through misunderstanding or unintentional neglect
- Never assume that your customer can’t afford your product/service – have you not seen ‘Pretty Woman’? how many times have you wished to say that famous line to a snooty shop person? “You work on commission, right? Big mistake, huge..I have to go shopping now”
Don’t be the snooty shop person! - That the customer knows/doesn’t know all about the services you offer, too much information and they may feel patronised, too little and they may be uncertain and confused, either way that customer may be lost to you
- Don’t assume you are better than your competition. You may be passionate about your product or service, you may be wildly confident that it beats all others, but other businesses will feel the same way too so don’t be complacent, always strive to do better. That your pricing is optimised for both selling and purchasing.
- Research, benchmark and do this regularly – are your rates in line with your industry and your audience – too much and you price them out, too little and assumptions may be made that it’s not good quality. Same with purchases, check your supplies, can you make saving without compromising quality?
At the end of the day, we don’t have time to research every tiny detail of every tiny thing but we should always be wary about making assumptions – its about balance, calculation and the willingness to be open to new information and limit those surprises.
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