"The customer is always right" is the famous phrase, claimed by many, with the most prominent advocates being the pioneers and highly successful figures in the retail industry Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker, and Marshall Field.
The aim was for the customer not to feel deceived or cheated. All this at a time when the practice of "deceptive descriptions" flourished (note: product returns were prohibited), as well as customer intimidation. It's no coincidence that during those years, companies promised the moon and the stars, for example, Coca-Cola was marketed as a cure for various ailments, including schizophrenia...
In the early 1900s, "The customer is always right" meant treating customers with respect and dignity, which was not common.
Many argue that strict adherence to it can harm the service itself. In short, the phrase "The customer is always right" sends misleading messages in all directions: both to the staff and to the customer. However, let's see five reasons why "the customer isn't always right":
1) Undermines the morale of the staff. This happens when employees are sidelined, such as in a possible conflict between an employee and an angry customer where the business takes the customer's side. When the company always sides with the customer, the staff won't derive satisfaction from their work and won't have any motivation to provide better service.
2) It burdens the experience of other customers. In this case, the opportunity cost is enormous. The effort to satisfy the most difficult and unreasonable customers is usually significant (in terms of time and money), essentially depriving resources from serving other normal customers.
3) Some customers simply don't fit with us. The truth is that some customers don't fit the profile of the business, they complain often, they frequently causing problems, they lack manners. We can't please everyone. We can't satisfy them all. Therefore, we send them with tact to the competition...
4) It gives customers with unreasonable demands an unfair advantage. This phrase gives customers the right to be offensive to the staff and to make unreasonable demands. Their satisfaction, besides making the staff's job even more difficult, creates an ethical issue, as these customers will become recipients of better treatment and privileges compared to the "right" customers.
5) This phrase never had a literal meaning. This service philosophy was never intended to be applied literally. It wasn't about letting customers have whatever they wanted, no matter what happens. Instead, it gave employees the opportunity to empathize with their customers at a time when consumer protection was almost nonexistent.
Realated articles to read: ''The customer is always right''. Who coined it and why {alertInfo}