The Customer Is Always Right?

I’ve talked about this before, how “customers” take this “rule” (The Customer Is Always Right) and use it to be pushy, demanding, and unrealistic.
 
Well, what about when the customer isn’t right? What about when the customer is wrong and rude?

What if the customer is the sort that wears his Nordstrom’s shoes for a year and then sends them back? Or complains about his fast food experience in order to get free food? Or is the type that demands extra special service because they are somebody and know lots of other somebodies?

Do these types get to claim that rule to use it for their own advantage? Do they get to use it to make themselves feel bigger than you? Do they get to use and abuse you because “the customer is always right?”

Marketing expert Seth Godin says the answer might surprise you. It’s the unwritten rule 3 on Stew Leonard’s famous granite rock:

If the customer is wrong, they’re not your customer any more.

In other words, if it’s not worth making the customer right, fire him. Nobody says you have to take that kind of treatment. You have intrinsic value as a human being that precludes being in the customer service business.

Seth says:

Fire them. Politely decline to do business with them. Refer them to your arch competitors. Take them off the mailing list. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, don’t be rude, just move on.

If you’ve got something worth paying for, you gain power when you refuse to offer it to every single person who is willing to pay you.

Here is the key to successfully firing your customer:

If you treat a customer like he’s wrong, he’s going to leave, and probably tell a bunch of other people. Before you take that route, be direct, straightforward, polite and firm, and decline to sell to them.

So yes, the customer is always right, but remember, not everyone is your customer. You do have a choice. 

And when you are the customer, remember to treat others as you would like to be treated if you were in their shoes. Niceness pays off.
 
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2 Responses to “The Customer Is Always Right?”

  1. Tom Vander Well Says:
    April 30th, 2006 at 3:44 am

    You’re right. Some customers cost more than they’re worth. The real art is in identifying them and dealing with them! Great thoughts!

  2. Theresa Says:
    April 30th, 2006 at 9:08 pm

    Thanks, Tom. It’s an interesting position I am in now with the furniture store I work at closing in one month. It is a different dynamic altogether. Different clientele coming in, different sales people, different attitudes. We are no longer in the business of building relationships and repeat customers. We are there to close the deal or move onto the next person who is ready to buy. With only 28 days left we don’t have to be so “nice.” It is hard to get into that mindset.I’m used to being nice!

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