The Customer Isn't Always Right

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There are times when customers are dead wrong and will never admit this or are just unruly and nothing can be done to appease these customers. These are the times when a business needs to stand their ground and not back down. Allowing customers to take advantage can set the precedence that they can do it again. There are plenty of customers out there that take advantage of businesses for the sole purpose of gaining free products or services. The food industry is one of the most exploited businesses for people purposefully making complaints. This is not to say mistakes do not occur. It simply means that although mistakes happen, employees need to have to fortitude to know the difference between an unhappy customer that has been wronged and the customer who is giving attitude in order to get something back for free. These types of customers believe they are entitled to things because they are the customers and they are always right. The phrase “I pay your salary” or “I spend so much money every month with you” are commonly heard from these customers. Businesses need to stop catering to these customers and put their foot down. Companies need to be able to say, “We are not going to allow this behavior to continue as it takes away from helping customers who have truly been wronged.”

Another aspect of customer service revolves around how the employee is being treated. There are customers who will berate and belittle employees. Fontana says, “This notion is flawed: the customer is not always right. Sometimes, they are just plain wrong, but by adopting the customer is always right motto, management is essentially telling its employees that they are wrong.” (Fontana 9) Mollifying an upset customer does not mean that management must choose side between the employee and the customer. Always siding with the customer can lead to bad service in the long run. If employees feel undervalued or underappreciated then these feeling can be reflected towards the customer. On the other hand, no employee should have to deal with unruly and rude customers. Fontana suggests the use of a three-part solution to dealing with these types of customers. “The three-part solution is to 1) support employees (put them first); 2) properly train and empower them; and 3) teach them the art of recovery to remedy problems.” (Fontana 9)

Putting the employees first is an import part of doing business. It seems recently that a lot of businesses have forgotten this part. It does not imply forgetting about the customer but rather, remembering that by putting employees first can produce happier and more loyal employees who in turn, give better customer service. Remembering that employees are still people and that these people have things going on outside of work and as much as they can try, these outside events can play a part in how they handle customers.

Empowering and training employees to be able to handle out of line customers can help minimize negative results. Fontana explains, “ Train employees that complaint handling is essentially a positive—the seeds of innovation. When a customer expresses dissatisfaction, he or she is showing company leaders where there is room for improvement. Positioned correctly, customer complaints can motivate and spur innovations.” (Fontana 9)

Teaching the art of recovery is essentially teaching employees the importance of customer feedback. Learning the art of recovery also teaches employees to remain positive and how to remove the negative perceived by the customer. Employees who have mastered this ability will provide far superior customer service and are able to handle the difficult customers with ease instead of getting upset themselves.

Every business, even the most successful businesses make mistakes. It how businesses handle these mistakes and move towards a more progressive attitude in dealing with customers and their complaints that will help to change the old adage of “the customer is always right”. Businesses need to realize that the customer is not always right and that correcting these customers and standing firm against these customers is an acceptable practice for customer service. It is possible to find a happy medium and train employees in the three-part solution to help alleviate occurrences of unhappy customers and promote a positive purchasing experience. It is finding a balance between supporting the company’s employees and the company’s customers.

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Works Cited

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Fontana, Joe. “Training For Results: Customers Are Not Always Right.” Sales & Service Excellence 11.2 (2011): 9. Web. 4 17 Feb 2015

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Tschohl, John. “Customers Are Not Always Right; Change Attitude; Improve Service.” American Salesman 50.11 (2005): 21. Web. 17 Feb 2015