The truth is – The customer isn’t always right

This is one of the biggest myths in business; it’s also one of the biggest cliches that can be told by a business owner to his or her employee. I believe that somewhere the real meaning gets lost in translation. I also believe that the customer doesn’t always know exactly what they want so how can he or she be right all the time?

As someone in the customer service industry, you (as an employee) have to help your customers discover what they really want and to help them receive no less than exactly what they need.

A good example that I can think of is when customers have a complaint. The first thing most managers and supervisors do is passify the customer with a refund or some kind of complimentary product. This does  not always work. From a customer’s point of view, I have called a company with a complaint where I didn’t want anything in return, I just wanted the company to know about the issue with the quality control of their products; the company sent me so many coupons my mailbox was stuffed. You need to actually listen to the customer rather than throwing refunds and smiling, trust me…they’ll be far more appreciative.

You also have to remember that some customers need to be turned away because they are bad for business. If you are in the business of customer service, then you will always have a customer or two that will cause trouble and you may end up losing money on that customer over the course of your relationship with him or her. You also need to make sure that you are treating your employees right and that the relationship with the customer isn’t worth the benefit you get from the employees. If an employee is constantly heckled by a bad customer, that employee will be unhappy and his or her work will be affected.

It will cost less to replace that customer than it will to hire and train a new employee.

You also have to realize when a customer is completely and TOTALLY wrong. If you go by the philosophy of the customer always being right, then when I walk into your clothing store and order chicken nuggets I should be able to get chicken nuggets. The customer can actually be wrong. It happens all the time, we’re all human and we make mistakes.

The truth is, I hate the phrase “The customer is always right.” That’s the worst phrase that can be taught and it needs to stop. It should be replaced with “Listen to the customer, sympathize, and come to some kind of mutually beneficial agreement.”