I confess I can be a difficult customer. I do not suffer stupidity/lying/ignorance/illogic/laziness kindly. I lump all those things together because it is difficult to tell sometimes whether a person is intentionally being deceitful, has herself been deceived, lacks knowledge, lacks critical thinking skills or is simply trying to save themselves work.
Regardless of which it is, the result is the same, a poor customer experience for me and since I tend to be a bit of a right-fighter, I sometimes find it difficult to walk away. I don鈥檛 know why, but it just drives me crazy when people are obviously wrong about something, but refuse to accept it.
I am also very particular. Just an example, I like my Tim Hortons Iced Capp blended twice. I have had many reactions to that request. One Timmies employee at the Toronto airport even rolled her eyes at me.
Another one tried to tell me it makes no difference. I actually prefer contempt and compliance over this attempt to avoid compliance, but the fact remains, it does make a difference. It makes it smoother and prevents you from ending up with a quarter cup of flavourless ice at the end. That is only logical, but I鈥檝e gone further; I鈥檝e actually tested it.
I get it, when it is busy (and when is it not at Tim Hortons), special requests can be a pain in the butt. It takes more time to blend an Iced Capp twice and if you鈥檙e under the impression, mistaken as may be, that it doesn鈥檛 make a difference, or you鈥檙e just being lazy, then I am admittedly a difficult customer.
Even if I was wrong (I am not), the customer is always right, right?
That business axiom is ostensibly attributed to British retailer Harry Gordon Selfridge. It was a marketing slogan to convince customers that, no matter what, they were going to get good customer service. It implies that even when the customer is wrong, she is right.
But what if the customer is wrong? Not like someone with an annoying predilection for twice-blended Iced Capps when you鈥檙e busy wrong, but really wrong?
There is growing evidence the 鈥渁lways right鈥� policy is usually wrong.
In an excellent summary of some of the literature on the subject, consultant Alexander Kjerulf tells this story about 麻豆视频west Airlines:
鈥淥ne woman who frequently flew on 麻豆视频west was constantly disappointed with every aspect of the company鈥檚 operation,鈥� Kjerulf wrote. 鈥淚n fact, she became known as the 鈥楶en Pal鈥� because after every flight she wrote in with a complaint.
鈥淪he didn鈥檛 like the fact that the company didn鈥檛 assign seats; she didn鈥檛 like the absence of a first-class section; she didn鈥檛 like not having a meal in flight; she didn鈥檛 like 麻豆视频west鈥檚 boarding procedure; she didn鈥檛 like the flight attendants鈥� sporty uniforms and the casual atmosphere.
鈥淗er last letter, reciting a litany of complaints, momentarily stumped 麻豆视频west鈥檚 customer relations people. They bumped it up to Herb鈥檚 [Kelleher, CEO of 麻豆视频west at the time] desk, with a note: 鈥楾his one鈥檚 yours.鈥�
鈥淚n sixty seconds, Kelleher wrote back and said, 鈥楧ear Mrs. Crabapple, We will miss you. Love, Herb鈥�.鈥�
This is amusing because all the things this customer didn鈥檛 like is what makes 麻豆视频west 麻豆视频west. The 鈥渘o frills鈥� experience is the company鈥檚 business model.
The story nicely illustrates that some customer just are not worth having.
It mostly boils down to resentment.
If a business is constantly putting bad customers ahead of good employees, what does that say about the value of the employees? How does it make them feel? Resentful employees do not generally give great customer service. Turn that table though, stick up for your employees, and see what kind of service they give your other customers.
And what about those other customers? What are they likely to think when they see a bad customer getting preferential treatment? It is the old squeaky wheel syndrome. The other wheels are bound not to like it.
There is another axiom that works in pretty much every situation, for business people, employees and customers alike. It probably wouldn鈥檛 make a great marketing slogan, but it definitely has the potential to reduce conflict.
Be kind to one another. I try (not always wholly successfully) to keep it in mind when I start feeling like being a difficult customer.
