ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

IS the customer always right and how does this matter?

Updated on May 23, 2011

Customer service - the often-forgotten truth

My belief is that the customer is NOT always right, in spite of the popular saying.

However, the customer always deserves to be treated right. For the customer is the reason for the seller's/supplier's existence,

The problem of customer service is that organisations and their people frequently seem to forget that the customer is the reason for their existence and treat the customer as a problem, as an interruption to their work, as an inconvenience.

People in an organisation need to understand that the customer is not an interruption, the customer is the reason for their existence!

And the reason for this is that organisations frequently grow from relatively small teams of people dedicated to providing a particular product or service, to large, highly-structured and tightly controlled systems whose main focus is maintaining the structure rather than serving the "inconvenient" customer or client.

In the plethora of regulations and Standard Operating Procedures the client is forgotten and often simply ignored, or treated like a gate-crasher at a party, an unwelcome guest.

Organisations need to structure themselves in such a way that every employee is fully aware of their role in meeting or exceeding customers' needs, because it is only in so doing that the long-term viability of the organisation can be ensured.

Every person in the organisation should be working to ensure that at the end of the service delivery path is a delighted customer who will, because of the good experience they have had, come back time and again to the organisation to get their needs met.

So why do I say that the customer is not always right? Customers often do not fully understand the product or service they are offered. They do not alwaysseek the service or product from the appropriate organisation. They sometimes treat the customer service person badly.

And that is the crux of the matter - how people are treated is the most important facet of the whole service delivery effort. And it will generally start with the service provider's staff - they need to have all the necessary skills to handle customers in the way customers deserve to be treated; indeed the way all people deserve to be treated - with respect, understanding and involvement. An organisation which appreciates fully the needs of its customers and works to meet or exceed them, will also treat its people well.

An organisation needs to treat its own people as well as it would its most valued customer, for in so doing it will ensure that its customers also get such treatment.

Never let a customer out of your business unhappy, and never let an employee home after work unhappy!

The unhappy customer will only come back to complain - the unhappy employee will not put his or her full commitment to the job.

Copyright Notice

The text and all images on this page, unless otherwise indicated, are by Tony McGregor who hereby asserts his copyright on the material. Should you wish to use any of the text or images feel free to do so with proper attribution and, if possible, a link back to this page. Thank you.

© Tony McGregor 2010

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)