Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Do You Really Think That "The Customer Is Always Right?"





The phrasse "The Customer is Always Right?" was originally coined by Harvy Gordon Selfridge ; the founder of "Selfridge's" a Department Store in London. This phrase is typically used by business to: Convince customers that they will get good service at this company and to convince employees to give customers good service.
I personally don't think that they are always right ; and thinking that they are always right is wrong. Most of the times makes employees unhappy because you have to value your employees first; if they think that you won't support them when a customer is out of the line , even the smallest problem can cause resentment. Of course , there are plenty of example's of bad employees giving lousy Customer Service , but trying to solve this by declaring the customer "always right" is counter-productive.
It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage and using the slogan ; abusive customers can demand just about anything. This makes the employees' jobthat much harder when trying to rein them in. Sometimes customers are bad for your business and  one's of the results is that can cause worst customer service. You have to put your employees first and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because they care about other people , including customers ; they have more energy and they are happy , meaning they are more fun to talk to and to interact with  and they are more motivated.
On the other hand , when the Company and management consistently side with customers instead of with employees , it sends clear message that employees are not valued , that treating employees fairly is not important. When this attitude prevails , employees stop caring about service .







What You Can Do and How You can Deal with Angry Customers?

  • Always Say Sorry - It doen't matter if you are in the wrong or not. Just saying sorry you can go along way to pacifying an upset client. If you believe it's not your fault then by all means  don't apologize for the problem instead apologize for the fact that they are not happy with the product or service.

  • Ask them for an explanation - No matter what they say , don't answer back , now is the time to listen carefully and take notes.

  • Make it right - Take each of the issues you've noted in turn and resolve them , where there's an obvious solution ; just do it! Where the solution is not so simple firstly say sorry. Then ooffer the customer something as compensation . Is the customer not happy with your offer , or you can't think of a suitable offer , ask the customer what they would like you to resolve the situation.

  • Make sure they are happy

  • Follow through

  • Offer them a reason to come back

  • Improve - Evaluate how you can improve your business so you don't get the same complaint again , then make the change.
Do You think that the Customer is always right? Why? How you deal with angry customers and how you deal with them?

lizlebron8@msn.com





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