Now, a little about what the customer often wants in exchange for all the things we offer them.
TheDude and I have been very progressive about allowing our community a "voice" in what happens at the store, and we encourage a culture of community involvement. It's taken pretty seriously and many of our Mafia feel a sense of ownership and stake in the store and its success.
On most days, this is pretty comforting. The idea that a majority of our customers feel a sense of such strong belonging and involvement that it extends to a perception of stewardship over our business can be extremely empowering.
Other days, it's our worst nightmare.
TheDude and I do our best to be responsive and pay attention to what our customers want. It's only smart business to put stock in what will keep our customers happy, and we do everything we can to accommodate the wishes of those that pay our bills.
But we can't please everyone. It took a long time for us to figure out that we SHOULD NOT try to, either.
At first, we definitely wanted to give every one of our customers the "thing" they were looking for- but it made sense for our business. When you only have a small customer base, it's important to give as much attention and credence to the desires of your base as possible.
We did a lot of things our customers liked, and with that brought growth. With growth came more opinions and more people telling us, "it would be really cool if you...."
No matter how much we want to give voice to our customers and listen to their opinions, at some point decisions have to be made. Ultimately, it comes down to me and TheDude, and what we believe is best for the business.
It's when we make those tough choices that things get into the 'way less than fun' category.
Anyone that disagrees can come back to us and tell us what they think and why. And they usually feel a strong sense of appropriation towards the business due to the voice and credence we give our customers' opinions. In short, if they don't like what we do, they blame us.
It's on these days that I want to pull a GW and ignore the crap out of them. I want to delegate them off to some obscure little corner and forget they ever existed.
It's when the customer thinks he or she knows better than me, or has more information, or just plain wants their way that things can (and do) get ugly. It's not just complaints. It's innuendo, insinuation, doubting, rumor mongering, pettiness and just plain sucky attitudes that make me want to burn the place to the ground and tell anyone who will listen-
You do it.
I haven't, I don't, and I won't do this... but I certainly WANT to-
when TheDude and I aren't moving "fast enough", or are moving "too fast"- when we make an announcement and we get endless rounds of questioning- when 80 hour workweeks are standard for both of us and trying to keep our marriage alive and strong is like playing Whack-A-Mole blindfolded and drunk-
There's a real and serious desire on both our parts to give it all up in exchange for regular hours, bosses, benefits (you try buying health insurance for a family as a self employed person) , going home knowing that the job I did is "done" and dinner with the kids.
But we don't.
We don't because we believe every one of our customers deserves all the positive things we offer-not because they paid for it or bought it; but because they're gamers just like we are, and we're a place where everyone gets to play. We believe in our mission passionately and completely, and we want everyone to have the fun and community to which they are richly entitled. We believe it, and we're building it- so that more will come, and know that there is a place where everyone belongs. We've long joked that we're a bar without beer, or a church without a pastor- we're a place that others can call home.
We know how serious it is to keep it open and alive, and we treat the decision making with utmost importance and reverence. We hope it shows in the experience you have in the store and in our community; because we put everything we have into it. Our customers deserve it.
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