As Donald Miller has been known to say: The customer is the hero; you are their guide.

Essentially... make it about them. And just like children...

🚫 They don’t want what you want.

🚫 They don’t care about your vision.

🚫 They only care about their own needs, desires, and convenience.

Sound harsh? Good. Because once you accept this, you’ll stop making the deadly mistake of prioritizing your ego over the market.

10 Ways to Avoid Temper Tantrums in Your Customers

1. Scheduling & Booking

Stop Making Customers Work So Hard to Give You Money.

Nobody likes jumping through hoops just to book an appointment or buy something. If your process is confusing, outdated, or requires too many steps, you lose them before they even walk through the door.

✅ Fix It: Offer online scheduling, clear availability, and an easy way to reschedule or cancel. If customers have to call and leave a voicemail, you’re already behind.

2. First Impressions

Win Them in Seconds or Lose Them Forever

Your website, storefront, or first email should make customers feel at ease. Confusing websites, long wait times, or a cold reception at the front desk tell people: we don’t care about you.

✅ Fix It: Test your customer journey like a mystery shopper. Is your website easy to navigate? Are staff trained to greet customers warmly? Are first-time buyers confused about what to do next?

3. Communication

The only place where silence is not golden.

Customers hate not knowing what’s happening with their order, service, or request. Silence breeds frustration. They shouldn’t have to call you for updates—you should already be informing them.

✅ Fix It: Automate status updates via email or text. If there’s a delay, tell them before they have to ask. Make sure your team knows to proactively communicate.

4. Payment Processing

It's 2025. Payments should not be painful.

You’d be shocked how many businesses lose sales at checkout or frustrate their customers with hidden fees, unclear pricing, and limited payment options. If paying is a hassle, they’ll spend their money somewhere else.

✅ Fix It: Accept multiple payment methods. Be upfront about pricing. If your invoice looks like a cryptic puzzle, simplify it. Make it easy.

5. Staff Attitude

Every Staff a Salesman

Customers can feel when employees don’t care. Rushed service, dismissive answers, and bad attitudes make people never want to come back.

✅ Fix It: Train your team to treat every customer interaction like it matters—because it does. A single bad experience can go viral.

6. Handling Complaints

Do You Make It Right or Make It Worse?

A bad experience doesn’t always mean a lost customer—but how you handle it does. Ignoring complaints, blaming the customer, or offering a half-hearted apology only makes it worse.

✅ Fix It: Respond quickly, own mistakes, and go above and beyond to make things right. A bad situation can turn into a loyalty boost if handled well.

7. Clarity of Offers

A Confused Customer is Not Your Customer

If customers constantly ask, “What’s included?” or “How much does it cost?” your messaging isn’t clear. Confusion leads to hesitation, and hesitation leads to a lost customer.

✅ Fix It: Spell everything out. Use bullet points. Eliminate industry jargon. Make pricing, features, and benefits stupidly obvious.

8. Follow-Up

Customers Always Remember That You Forgot Them.

Most businesses ignore customers after they’ve paid. That’s a mistake. The best businesses keep customers engaged long after the sale—because repeat buyers spend more and refer others.

✅ Fix It: Follow up after service. Send thank-you messages. Offer exclusive deals to past customers. Stay top of mind.

9. Speed & Quality

Be Fast, Friendly, and Unforgettable.

Nobody likes waiting. Whether it’s long response times, slow service, or delivery delays, slow businesses lose customers.

If you can't speed up the service, try to make the wait enjoyable or, better yet.. unforgettable.

The elevator ride to the top of the One World Trade Center is not short. It's also not what they're paying for. But they entertain you so well on the way up, leaving you disappointed that the ride is over.

✅ Fix It: Streamline your processes or make wait time a competitive advantage.

10. Convenience

Are You Making Their Life Easier or Harder?

Customers choose products that make things simpler. If your process, policies, or service create friction, they’ll go to someone else.

✅ Fix It: Make things easy. Self-service options, clear FAQs, AI support (if they actually work), simple returns, and quick customer support—these things matter.

Are You Customer-Centered?

Most businesses think they are, but few actually obsess over making things easy and enjoyable for customers.

Want to stand out? Fix these 10 things.

Because, at the end of the day, customers don’t care about your business. They care about how your business makes them feel.