SYNOPSIS IN POINT FORM

• This is a very subjective concept open to opinion
• It was created to draw customers and to encourage staff to serve well
• In practice customers are not always right or genuine
• The saying may however still be applied in principle
• It can be better stated as – the customer is always right even when they aren’t
• It is best combined with the motto – you cannot please everyone all the time
• Often you must be seen as agreeing with the client in front of others
• Particularly with social media it is always best to be seen acting in favour of the customer
• This may also result in effectively turning a negative into a positive
• Try never to confront a complaining customer head to head, let them arrive at the desired conclusion on their own

FULL ARTICLE

This business related phrase has been around for much longer than any of us. It was coined up by Harry Gordon Selfridge, founder of Selfridge’s department stores in London, in 1909! Considered very cutting edge at the time, the idea encouraged customers to visit his store knowing that they will be looked after, and employees to offer them good service.

So much has been said and written about this famous saying that every possible slant on it has been covered somewhere or another. Some profess to its validity, while others say that it actually leads to even poorer service, and everything in between.

Here is my take on it, based purely on the here and now. The general business environment in Malta in 2015.

I obviously concur with the notion that there are many cheeky customers out there, some of whom would go to great lengths even to cheat you. Also that customers can be mistaken and completely wrong in their judgement, others might have an ulterior motive, and that whatever you do in life and no matter how hard you strive towards perfection, you will never quite reach it.

So whatever you do and you think, especially if you embrace the notion that the client is always right, it is also very important to keep another saying in mind – that you cannot please everyone all the time.

I believe that both sayings go very well together and thus combined form a very healthy outlook and ethos for most businesses.

Logically we are all aware of the many cases when the customer might not truly be right at all, however what we really have to ask ourselves is whether everyone else who might be exposed to this client also knows this too. If a client is complaining bitterly in front of others and we might sense that the complaint is not quite genuine, then our biggest problem is all of the other clients’ perception of this problem, rather than the complainants themselves.

Let us certainly not forget that we are living in the social media age and that absolutely anything that happens with anyone, may very easily get plastered everywhere for thousands of people to see. It is in this context that I subscribe mostly to the saying that the customer is always right.

My favourite adaptation of this is actually – the customer is always right even when they aren’t.

This indicates that whether they are truly right inherently or not, is not always the most important factor at hand. In many occasions you need to act as if they are right, to be seen doing just that, even if you know that they are wrong.

Try to consider your options in one of the stickiest of scenarios. A client is foul-mouthing you on Facebook in front of a large audience and as we all very well know there will usually be people taking both sides. If you come in like a hardheaded bigot, trying to expose the customer of all types of wrongdoings, then the chances are that you are going to create even more bad blood, to shock many of the readers and to drive many more people against you. In such situations as in many others in life, the most clever strategy is to come in as meek as a lamb, to very discreetly hint at why and what might have gone wrong, and that this was totally beyond your control. Yet still, in spite of all the adverse circumstances, you are more than willing to take full remedial action.

The beauty of this situation is that you have just made yourself the very best advert possible. And the person you have to thank for this is the cheeky customer. For those who were already on your side will consider you nothing less than a hero, having realised that it wasn’t even your fault, and the others would say that you acted very fairly, especially as now they would start to see both sides of the story.

This is how you win yourself new clients, by adopting the motto that the client is always right (even when they aren’t).

It is definitely not unheard of for businesses to sometimes purposely create their own complaints, just to be seen gallantly and generously solving them to the bogus client’s full satisfaction, purely as a marketing stint.

To take the argument further, it is rarely a good idea to confront a client head on. Always start off by agreeing with everything they say, and even if you are sure that they are wrong, ask them pertinent questions, lead them slowly to the truth, but let them come to the real conclusion on their own. You might want to start every sentence with “yes of course you are right and of course we will be giving you a full refund”, before adding your little bit of truth such as “I would just like to point out that you are in the wrong shop as you made your purchase next door!”

The crucial message is to make the clients themselves think that you believe they are right, at least initially. This will calm them down and bring them to their senses, and if they are purposely trying to take advantage of a particular situation, it will serve either to get them off their guard, or to gradually expose their untruthful stance.

Moreover, applying this old adage will even keep your staff on their toes, with hopefully less of an attitude. They would know that it is not simply their word over the client’s, but that the client will always be seen as being given the benefit of the doubt.

So yes, in these ways at least, the customer is always right, even when they aren’t and both you and they know it. It is best to act as if they are, at least in their eyes and more so in the eyes of other customers and your staff. Make best of the situation as you possibly can.

Then just move on, don’t make a huge issue about it to yourself, and do not necessarily restructure your entire business policy based on one misguided individual. You can’t win them all and obsessing about it will only give you an ulcer.