Very well said Tim. Thank you for your contribution to the forum.
The customer is clearly not always right! However, since we want to keep our customers, we have to respond in ways that reflect the potenial value of a good customer and a good relationship with that customer. When the communication beaks down based on the right/wrong equation, we need to bring the customer back to the value that they were pursuing in the first place. For instance, if a student complains about one instructor, we try to take the emphasis off of one relationship, and bring other instructors and staff members into focus. In any environment, the student will benefit from being able to interact with a variety of people, some of whom we don't necessarily agree on every topic.
Wow! That was a tough situation. There is a fine balance between providing 'above and beyond' service to our customers and going beyond what is reasonable. But how do we determine what is reasonable? I think your approach to remain empathetic and to attempt to go above and beyond to the extent that you can, is a great practice. This would be a great topic for a meeting with your peers and supervisor to determine the level of service at which the company is willing to go, and how far you can personally go within the policies and procedures of your institution. Thank you for your post!
That's a difficult question. I would like to give most customers the benefit of the doubt and say that most of them want a service or product and usually only complain when they are not delivered the service or product.
In the event that they are not "right," I would still be empathetic of the situation and go above and beyond to try to satisfy the customer.
I dealt with a really tough customer at a different job once. I was a Front Desk agent at a hotel in Colorado. I had a lady complain about our dry climate, our terrible sheets, tough towels, cheap humidifiers, etc. My team went out and bought her FOUR new humidifier for her 400sq ft hotel room, went through the entire towel inventory to find the "softest towels." The humidity in her room still wasn't up to her standards. She even had a humidity gauge with her!
I didn't agree with my team on this specific scenario. I think that was going way over the top. I think the customer needed to realize that they were paying for a 2 1/2 star hotel and not a 4 star resort.
What do you guys think and what would you have done in this situation?
That could be true, however in today's highly competitive market we want to make sure that we provide each and every 'customer' with a level of service that allows them to walk away ready to tell their friends about you.
I was always taught that "the customer is always right". But after completing the first module I heard them mention that it's not really the case any more.
It is my opinion that this kind of fall under the "Fire them" trend. It said that some companies are firing customers that are not worth the hassle anymore.
I agree with this. Working in customer service for most of my adult career I've seen some of those costumer that really were not "right" they were more of a pain in the butt and a big waste of time.
I think you just need to assess each individual case by case and ask your self if their business is worth the hassle. For example is this a customer that is just trying to get free product from you. Will they keep trying to get free product from you?
Or is this just a customer pointing out a fault or some sort so that you can fix the problem and assure that this problem won’t happen again.
Jessica, this is a great question. I wonder, what are your thoughts as to where this phrase came from? And, what does this phrase mean to you?
Dr. Jean Norris
