This is one of those topics that I have been meaning to write about for quite some time now — just never got around to it. And since this version isn’t a book (yet), I’ll try to keep this as “short and sweet” as possible.
Here’s the deal — we have all heard the saying “The Customer is Always Right”. Cute saying — sounds good from the customer’s perspective of course — but we all know that it’s just not true. Customers, (believe it or not if you are on the customer side of the equation), can be, are, and will be flat out wrong on a regular basis.
There — I said it — I got it off my chest.
Customers can be wrong.
Now, before you flame me for such services-focused heresy — let me dive a little deeper here.
Going back to the title of this piece, you’ll notice that I started with “The Customer is Always Right.” And that’s the catch right there in case you missed it.
In my opinion (which means it is correct, of course — kidding here), you HAVE TO (not should, suggested, or maybe) go into every customer situation with the assumption that they may be correct in whatever their challenge is and you (believe it or not) might be wrong.
Here’s a quotable and more concise version of the message:
“You should always go into every customer situation with the premise that the customer may actually be correct.”
Not following or seeing that premise followed has caused me so much grief over the years that it’s impossible to calculate honestly. Oh, and a lot of money as well in terms of project overruns, lost opportunities, and unhappy people.
Whether it’s me, my team, or the group I’m working with (internal or external) if you take the approach that by default the customer is wrong, then at best you come across as arrogant and defensive. Everything else is much worse, obviously.
Pro Tip: Even if you are 1,000% sure that the customer is wrong, you still go into the customer discussion with the outward perception that they may be correct.
And that right there folks is the source of the vast majority of contentious situations with customers.
If your mindset going into the customer situation is any of these:
· The customer is an idiot
· User error
· We did everything they told us to do
· It wasn’t in the requirements
· It worked for us so must be correct
Then …. #FAIL!
Pro Tip #2: Even if you are too arrogant to consider that the customer might be correct, then pretend that they might be right.
And yes, I am intentionally being a bit snarky in that Pro Tip b/c I believe that only arrogance and/or pride would prevent someone from the mindset that you could not possibly be wrong.
(I’ll save that rant for my book)
Seriously though, this is often simply a matter of perception by the customer. If you can at least give the perception that their issue may be valid and is worth looking into, that is going to go a very long way when it comes to overall relationship.
Two important mindsets here: Humility and An Open Mind.
In my experience, customers are very, very perceptive to those two approaches to any situation and it can have a very positive impact on both the relationship and the situation.
One last thing I’ll toss out there, which I will develop much further another time — Sense of Urgency.
Regardless of the mindset you approach any customer situation, you really, really, really, really need to convey a sense of urgency that matches the customer’s. In my opinion, this is also a must, not a should.
You’ll notice that I said “convey” — and that’s the trick. It doesn’t matter if what the customer if complaining about is ridiculously low in priority on your list of things to address. What matters is that you give them the perception that you care just as much as they do.
Now, to be clear, I’m not suggesting you need to lie and be dishonest — customers do also pick up on that very quickly.
This is about genuine concern for the customer and their challenge and truly working to respond in as timely a manner as possible.
Communication is key here, as it always is — but all of that is for another day and a much longer writing.
So here are your takeaways:
· The customer is not always right
· You should assume, however, that they could be and approach any and all situation with that mindset
· Convey a sense of urgency to their situation that resembles theirs
Here is your homework — questions to ask yourself:
· Do you genuinely care about your customer’s success, or are you more worried about it being done “right”, and you know the best way?
· How quickly do you respond to customer issues? What about off-hours?
· How can you best convey this message to the teams you manage and/or work with?
· What customer situations did you screw up in the past because you didn’t follow the above suggestions?
Looking forward to writing a lot more about this!
