Is the customer always right?
Businesses exist for one reason: to solve market and customer problems. If you work in a business, you have customers and clients regardless of whether it’s b2b, b2c, or b2g. A great customer experience (CX) is critical to building brands, driving retention, and scaling revenue. When a business has excellent customer service and CX, its customers will pay a premium price. Think about the difference between the experience of going to Walmart and going to Nordstrom. Both are large, multinational retailers, yet the two shopping experiences could not be more different. Customer service is ingrained in the Nordstrom brand—people who shop there do so because Nordstrom is committed to providing superior experience and service. No one shops at Walmart for these reasons; people shop at Walmart because of price.
Nordstrom’s excellent customer service is rooted in its culture of accountability, in which all employees are empowered to use their judgment to solve customer problems. They do not operate on the wholesale idea that the customer is always right. You know from working with clients and customers that many times the customer is wrong. Very wrong. (Have you seen the videos of airline customers behaving reprehensibly while onboard aircraft?) The challenge becomes balancing customer expectations and service with the reality of running a business and making a profit.
When dealing with an unhappy client/customer, the first thing to do is to make sure that everyone involved understands the supposed problem. This is critical, as a dissatisfied client or customer wants more than anything is to know that they are being heard and that their concerns are valid. Establishing transparency is key to resolving the issue, regardless of what the issue is. You will also need to keep your emotions in check. Most customer problems are not personal; they usually escalate due to customer frustration, so proceeding with empathy is a great tactic to employ.
While customers are the lifeblood of any business, employees are a business’s most valuable asset. If you’re a manager, your employees need to know that you are going to back them up unless they've done something wrong. When employees feel disenfranchised, they are less engaged. Managers who throw employees under the bus in the name of customer service are responsible for its long-term decline.
Not every customer or client is the right fit for your company. People who abuse policies and employees should not be allowed to continue to do so. Usually, lousy client/customer behavior reveals itself with time. There have been times when a client has had unreasonable demands and expectations throughout my career, and the best thing to do is to part ways. This happens in all businesses. Customer/client relationships are partnerships, and both parties need to do their part to be successful. A friend who is a successful personal trainer told me she recently had to sever a client relationship because her client continually canceled her sessions but was simultaneously angry that her fitness level was stagnant. My friend knew that there was no realistic way to appease this client and maintain a working relationship.
The bottom line in dealing with customers is this: set expectations, deliver on them, fix problems as they occur. Define clear expectations for everyone involved—your team and the client’s team. Many customer complaints are legitimate, but at the same time, many are unreasonable. Remain calm and learn to identify the difference. If there is no way to solve a perceived problem to the customer’s satisfaction, it may be time to reevaluate the relationship. Remember, it’s customer service, not customer servitude!