You’ve no-doubt heard of the 80/20 rule in business: how 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers (the best customers). The reverse can also be true: 80% of your hassles will come from 20% of your customers (the worst customers).

I know the theory says you should concentrate on the best customers but I had a recent reminder that even in a crummy economic climate, it’s just not worth doing business with some people.

I’ve got a DVD that I produced as a hobby and sell it over the internet. $27 including delivery anywhere in the world. It’s very niche and something that I play around with to test various marketing techniques. I use just-in-time manufacturing to produce the product in small runs.

I’d run out of DVD cover inserts and emailed everyone who had an outstanding order a nice message letting them know that their package would be off in the mail tomorrow.

Then I get this email back from one guy in the US: “If my order isn’t here by tomorrow, I’m calling my CC company and cancelling.”

Tomorrow?! You’re in the US and I’m in New Zealand!

I actually had his order packed at this point, so I wrote a good email back saying I would happily refund his money if his didn’t want to continue with the order. His call.

I also had to point out that there was no way his DVD would get there overnight. There was a 5-10 days delivery time, as stated on my sales website.

It was an informative, courteous email.

And I get his email back: “Send the DVD.”

That’s it. No “hello”, “goodbye” or “thanks for your email. “Just “Send the DVD.”

Maybe I’m old fashioned but I expect some level of common courtesy. If this is how the guy communicates with people, it didn’t bode well to me about a business transaction.

I got really uneasy, so did some searching on the internet and found out a bit about this guy.

By then I no longer trusted that when the DVD did arrive that it wouldn’t get reported as ‘lost’ or that he’d still ask for a refund or have some other complaint. He’d just tagged himself as a ‘worst 20% of customers.’

So I emailed him back and said I was unhappy with the transaction and gave him a full refund – even for the credit card charges I had paid all ready.

That was the last I ever heard from him. I wasn’t surprised.

So don’t forget to weight up the level of hassle those annoying, picky or rude customers are going to bring to you and see if they’re really worth it.

$27 certainly didn’t cut it for me.

I love this cool little video illustrating why the old school rules of branding and marketing no longer apply. 

Now what this video doesn’t show is what happens when you try and shove a traditional advertising message through a social media channel:

“It doesn’t quite fit, but we’ll shove it in anyway.”

And result is like having someone SHOUT IN YOUR FACE WITH A MEGAPHONE!

Companies are going to have to get a lot smarter in the way they connect (or don’t connect) with their audiences. Personally, I can’t remember that last time I actually watched a TV advert. Not sure of the last time I watched Live TV for that matter.

As a new Twitter user, I just saw this amusing article reprinted from Modern Mechanics 1935. Yet again this proves that there’s not too much under the sun that is really really new.

Just like Twitter, only ... older

I can’t see Twitter being that convenient if you had to drop a coin in every time you post a message … although it might cut down on the number of spam tweets. I really don’t want to know what you had for dinner last night.

On the user interface side of things it all looks very simple: write a message on the paper, put in a coin and crank up the message. Of course, you then have to hope that not too many people want to use this device, so that your message doesn’t zoom off the top too quickly!

The text reads:

Robot Messenger Displays Person-to-Person Notes In Public

TO AID persons who wish to make or cancel appointments or inform friends of their whereabouts, a robot message carrier has been introduced in London, England.

Known as the “notificator,” the new machine is installed in streets, stores, railroad stations or other public places where individuals may leave messages for friends.

The user walks up on a small platform in front of the machine, writes a brief message on a continuous strip of paper and drops a coin in the slot. The inscription moves up behind a glass panel where it remains in public view for at least two hours so that the person for whom it is intended may have sufficient time to observe the note at the appointed place. The machine is similar in appearance to a candy-vending device.

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For a small sum Londoners may leave messages for friends in public places. When written on “notificator,” message moves up behind window, remaining in view for two hours.