So, is the customer always right?

SHARED FROM:
StarMetro, Wednesday, 10 April, 2013
Sight and Sounds by Xandra Ooi
Try hearing it out first
 
Sometimes it's worth to put one's pride aside and hear the other person's side of the story instead of feeling angry and being unwilling to listen.  There's always the question of who's right or wrong in any arguments.

Not arguing simply means not reacting defensively to a difference of opinion.  It's putting pride aside to hear the other person out instead of feeling angry that they are not saying what we want to hear.  Pride is what often makes the difference between a discussion or an argument without us even realizing it's pride all along.

In giving out opinion, nobody sets out to say something because they think its wrong.  Opinion is given because we think we are saying something we truly believed is right.

There is this question whether the customer always right.  Here's how to see it, a customer is like a guest where we are openly inviting someone to experience something that we have to share it with them.  an easy example is where we invite guests to our house.  Some of them might need to use the toilet which usually goes right through the kitchen.  Many of the guests would come out complementing the decor, some would just be contented with the usage of the toilet, but there may be one unfortunate guest might slip and fall while on his way out.  He might fell because we did not mop up the floor that was wet or was it because he was clumsy and not looking where he was placing his foot.  But others came and went without a problem.

So, is the customer always right?  It's really tricky in trying to figure out who's right or wrong in such situations.  It's trying to put pride aside to express the empathy necessary to solve the situation.  Remember, apologizing does mean defeat.  Saying sorry is a way of expressing empathy for the other person's feelings or dilemma.  It's about trying to make the person feel better and it's the best thing to do .

When something happened with any of our customers, what's important to determine the best course of action.  It can certainly be defined as an action that would bring about the most effective results and brand image for the company.  Thus the necessity to understand the concept of empathy.

The big question in any situation faced:

• would you rather be happy or would you rather be right?
• would making a move to improve service be seen like admitting to a mistake we did not commit?
• would not explaining or defending ourselves be like admitting we are wrong?
• would saying sorry or accepting negative comments be a sign of weakness?
• would we rather have a great reputation like being the most incredible customers service recovery and have repeat customers through positive words of mouth; or would we rather be right?