The phrase “the customer is always right” was a term coined by Harry Selfridge in 1909 as a way to give customers confidence in the quality of service provided by his department store in London. Little did he know that the term would eventually backfire in multiple different ways, as customers used this term to their advantage. Here are a few reasons why “the customer is always right” is just plain wrong!
Many modern businesses such as phone answering service companies try to stay on good terms with their customers in friendly and imaginative ways. These may include money back guarantees, customer satisfaction policies and returning customer loyalty points or services. However, many people see these services as a way of getting a free meal ticket.
Persnickety Customers
Whilst the majority of people treat businesses fairly, a small percentage of people take advantage of these customer service loopholes. Continuously taking products back to the store for a refund and a replacement has seen many businesses remove their guarantees due to losses, making the customer not always right at the end of the day.
When customers get angry, they can be disruptive, annoying and sometimes violent towards members of staff. For businesses who deal with customers and clients in large numbers on a daily basis, these incidents can soon add up.
Don’t Ignore Your Customer’s Issues
Many businesses in the communication sector such as phone answering service companies always seem to face a barrage of calls to complain about certain products. Whilst many companies have gone to great lengths to stop these incidents from happening, such as hiring people with calming voices, or refusing to take the calls altogether, these calls can soon add up.
When customers play by the rules, it can be an easy process to handle each and every customer’s wishes. In many cases, customer service agents are happy to take problematic calls as it lets them know if their services or products have a fault so they can get it fixed.
Deal With Competing Customer Service Departments
In many cases though, phone answering services may have competing departments that do not talk to each other very economically. This is where a customer service loop happens where people get irate at the thought of spending hours on the telephone to resolve their problems.
When you take into account the numbers of unhappy customers that you may receive, this tiny percentage of unhappy customers can never be pleased, no matter what, this is when you find out that some customers are just bad for business.
Trust your Staff, Listen to Your Customers
When a company overlooks its own staff to make the customers happy, the employees feel neglected and mistrusted to deal with certain issues. When a business’s employees start to resent their own company, the business is in big trouble.
So the customer is not always necessarily right, but they can be, just sometimes. If you have a business large or small, it is always best to treat employees and customers fairly. Employees will know when a customer has been mistreated or unfairly dealt with, but having faith in your staff will ensure that they never feel overlooked to bring harmony into the workforce.
