If there is one saying I hate, it’s that the “customer is always right.” Even beyond the logical absurdity of the statement, it creates a feeling of insincerity. No one is always right, and pretending makes liars out of us.
Sometimes the customer is wrong. Sometimes they are simply asking for what you are not able to offer. Sometimes a customer can be abusive, and sometimes a customer needs to be fired.
One of the great lessons of consulting is that it teaches you to work in partnership with others. My clients have needs, and it’s my job to meet and exceed them. I also have needs, things like good communication, respect, and timely payment, and it’s my clients’ responsibility to meet those. Neither one of us is subservient to the other. There is no bowing and scraping. It’s about a beneficial partnership between adults.
When we create an environment where the customer is always right, we are setting up a power imbalance that doesn’t respect our businesses or our people. We become yes-men instead of partners. We ask our employees to accept that they won’t be respected, and that respect isn’t necessarily deserved. We tolerate “bad business.”
I encourage you to retain the right to fire your customers. If you must do so (and I know it happens rarely) you should of course do so with respect and courtesy. The customer who shouts at your staff? “It sounds like you’re angry with us. I’m very sorry to hear that. Perhaps it’s best if you get your (service) elsewhere.” The client who never pays on time? If they can’t mend their ways, it’s time to part ways, or to require payment in advance.
I know not everyone will agree with me, and certainly in these “economic times” (that phrase is becoming a tired cliché) it’s hard to let dollars go. But I do encourage you to focus on good business, and let the bad business go. This world is 97% good people and 3% (insert non-business appropriate language). Serve the former with all your heart. Let the latter go, and don’t feel bad about it for a second.
Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear.
Cheri Baker, MA, SPHR is the President of Emergence Consulting. Emergence Consulting's services include Management Coaching, Leadership Development, Team Building, Customer Service and Communication Skills Training and Strategic Planning in the Seattle, WA area.
More information on her programs can be found:http://www.emergenceconsulting.net
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