Are Customers Always Right? Reasons to Stand by Your Employees

One of the most common maxims heard in business is “The customer is always right.” The consensus seems to be that keeping customers happy is essential to maintaining your company reputation and attracting more business. Clients in all industries may be difficult and demanding because they feel privileged simply due to the fact that they’re spending money. They may ask for unreasonable price breaks, extra services, or begin abusing employees who don’t cater to their demands.

Also read: Aligning The Employee Experience To The Customer Experience Standard

Many companies oblige them for fear of losing the sale or the customer, even when the customer is clearly out of line. But one consequence is that the employee is left feeling demeaned and often resentful. Keeping your staff happy is only one of the benefits to supporting them in these situations. Let’s see some other reasons why you should stand by your employees when they’re dealing with unreasonable customers.

You’ll Get Rid of the Bad Seeds

You can wind up spending a lot of time and even losing money trying to satisfy customer complaints, especially if you have to offer free products and services to mollify them. Unfortunately, there are certain people who will always find fault or “haggle” for special deals. Others don’t appreciate changes and will complain if you provide a new product or modify your services. This can make every business improvement seem negative. Tolerating bad behavior will only encourage repeat problems and cost you more money.

It will also make your well-behaved customers feel they’re being neglected or cheated if they aren’t getting the same perks. Bad customers are bad business. They’ll create a scene and assert demands that make things unpleasant for both your staff and your nicer customers.

Employees may even lose respect for you if they see you’re willing to give in when there’s a dispute. Better to focus your time and energy on customers who provide a more pleasant business environment for you, fellow patrons, and your employees.

Your Employees Will Be More Productive

If you begin telling employees that they’re obligated to make even difficult customers happy, you put them in a situation where they’re obligated to accept abuse. To be productive and effective, you want employees to be upbeat and remain friendly, not be unhappy and disengaged.

Employees will be happier and more satisfied in their jobs if you show them respect and appreciation, not set them up to fail. Happy employees are more productive and energetic, more dedicated and focused, whereas unhappy workers are more likely to commit errors, underperform, and quit their jobs.

By ensuring that your employees have the tools to do their jobs effectively, are well-trained, and granted the authority to solve problems, they’ll be able to satisfy most customer demands and even some unusual ones. The overall customer experience will be positive.

You’ll Gain More Respect

In many cases, even the most unruly customer can be dealt with if you remain calm and explain your position. State that the employee is only doing as instructed, ask for an explanation of the problem, and point out why you feel the customer is being unreasonable.

Sticking up for your employee and taking responsibility shows them that you recognize their personal value and follow your own rules. You’ll earn respect from your staff and even the customers by standing up for your team’s rights and your company policies. At the same time, be willing to admit it when the customer is actually right, and make amends.

Also read: Respect In The Workplace

Employees, other customers, and even rivals who see that you’re reasonable but firm in your resolve will be hesitant to make the same mistake. Your employees will be more inclined to show you respect and loyalty when they know you’ll stand up for them. This personal connection will make staff more dedicated and more likely to remain in your employment long-term.

Your Employees Will Stick Around

You’ll experience more loyalty if there’s a mutual respect between you and your staff. Employees are more likely to be engaged and productive if you’re providing a positive environment, are open to feedback, and willing to support them in times of crisis.

Employee retention is important to healthy business growth. Keeping experienced employees is one of the most important ways to save the company’s money. Just think of the recruiting process itself: you have to pay for posting the open position, for the assessment of candidates, for the hiring team. Later, you will lose time and productivity in training replacements to get to the level your former employees were before they quit. Is that customer really worth it? If you allow abusive customers to drive away your staff, they’re costing you much more than you’ll make in trying to meet unreasonable demands.

You’ll Attract Top Talent

A good part of your company’s reputation comes from your employees. They discuss their work experiences with family and friends both offline and online, where bad experiences may be shared on social media.

But if they have only positive things to say about you as an employer, more people will be inclined to think of you when they’re looking for work. The best employers for today’s workforce are those who allow employees to communicate openly, be creative, and support their efforts.

A wider pool of applicants allows you to raise your expectations and focus on top talent. Onboarding better employees will raise the efficiency and quality of your organization.
In summary, you can’t count on the fact that your employee is always acting appropriately, but if you’ve trained them well, they deserve your confidence and trust. A philosophy that “The customer is always right” does your staff an injustice. If you’ve provided a positive, productive work environment, the vast majority of your customers won’t have anything to complain about.