I was working on some more research for my paper and I came across this link. Here is the link. The article is titled "Top 5 reasons why “The Customer Is Always Right” is wrong" and it talks about how that slogan is basically going out of style. I am curious to see what others think about this topic and how it relates to their businesses. Personally working with entrepreneurs daily I am kind of in the middle of this debate. It is very difficult to tell a client that their idea is not feasible because even the craziest ideas can work. On the other hand, if a client feels that they can get a billion dollars from a bank then it is my responsibility to give them as much information as possible to show them that there is no way on Earth that a bank would loan them that kind of money. The author does make good points though. Especially when the employer sides with the customer every time. Saying that employees have to listen to customer complaints all day and then get told that they are right no matter what does take a toll on employees. This is because there are times when a customer is flat out wrong and they must be told so.
I am also wondering what others think about the woman who didn't like any part of Southwest Airlines and continued to fly with them. It makes me wonder if this woman was just looking for arguments or if there was something else wrong.
Another thought that just occurred to me is that my circumstance may be different because I work in an environment where my services are free to the public. Does this have an impact on whether the customer is always right?
Hi, Justin.
ReplyDeleteEven as a customer, I am disagree with this slogan, I think in most cases, there is no right or false, customers and employees maybe think one question from different sides, for this, they get the different views about same thing, so we can not say that customer is always right. I think this slogan focus on employee's services quality more than right or false, it tells employee to offer best services whatever the situation is .
I still think the customer should always be right, but the larger a company gets, the less they seem to care about the customer. A small company relies on every single customer, therefore, they must treat every customer with exceptional care. The larger company can be selective. The don't necessarily need every customer and customer service goes down. Unfortunately, this seems to be happening everywhere!
ReplyDeleteProgressive Insurance is a great example of customer service. Ultimately, they choose their own customers by showing all of the competitor's rates. They put everything out on the table and let the customer make the final decision.
This is a very interesting topic, and one that is hysterical to talk about with anyone who has ever worked in the service industry...hahahahaha.
ReplyDeleteWe actually had a sign hanging up in the back (one of the cooks put it up on his station for a while) that said something like...
"The customer isn't always right. In fact, most of the time the customer is a complete moron who has no idea what it is that they even wanted in the first place. If you are offended by this comment, then you are one of those morons."
As managers, I believe that we have to teach our employees to do their best in all situations dealing with customer expectations and levels of satisfaction, but that we must evaluate each situtation to make sure that the customer isn't merely trying to take advantage of us.
I actually read a story not to long ago about a cruiseline that banned a woman and her husband from using their services anymore because they had had enough of their complaints and trying to please them. They might still believe that the customer is always right...just not right for them.