Is the Customer Always Right? A Case Study

I was contacted recently for advice, a post-mortem of sorts on an incident which was already closed. Here's how it went:

Of course, this only shows, at best, that I have fairly good hindsight. To really see commonsense entrepreneurship in action, let's discuss the biggest challenge you're facing in business before you make decisions. Let me show you how commonsense entrepreneurship works in the real world, with real business decisions.

My initial response was these quick and simple thoughts:

1. Set clear expectations - make sure it's absolutely obvious, up front, that customers know which parts won't be returned, for their own safety, or if they don't take 'em within XX days, they're trash. Clear expectations are harder to muck with later.
2. Some people can't be pleased. The customer, as you say, is NOT always right.
3. Hard to know how each step was handled, but carefully wording everything so you're discussing events and actions, not people and feelings, keeps it on a professional level.
4. Sometimes, when you know there's no NO way you're going to please a customer, kindly explain that you're sorry you can't meet their expectations, and refer them to a qualified competitor (don't send 'em to an enemy in order to mess with both of them; that's bad too.)
5. Do item #4 BEFORE the customer blows up, if possible. Make it obvious that it's your inability to please them, not their behaviour.

Fire unwanted customers before they cause trouble, but without rancor, just as you would with a problem employee.

I'd say that when the guy called the first time, he was probably angry at his wife for spending the money to fix something he was supposed to take care of and didn't get around to, and took it out on y'all (and she was probably miffed at him, too!)

When someone starts a conversation angry, you have to decide pretty quickly whether you're going to be able to make them happy or not. When he was obviously just raising a ruckus, it should have ended there with the best apology y'all could muster, but no parts return. Once someone has decided to be uncooperative, giving them more ammunition to be angry about isn't the best strategy.

Does the owner have a firm policy about returning old parts? Is it regulated like in the auto industry, where if the customer requests it, you're required to return them? I'd say that if this was electrical (I used to repair equipment for dog grooming shops, so there's plenty of info about electrical stuff lurking in the back of my head) I wouldn't give it back unless they signed a waiver acknowledging that it was damaged and dangerous. Maybe even include the international symbol of a lightening bolt blowing a man in half, to show death by electricity . . .

Plan ahead for the customer's worst possible course of action. At the same time, people really to tend to behave the way you expect, so while you're always prepared for (and studiously avoiding) the worst, expect your fellow humans to live up to their Divine potential in every case. Yeah, once in a while they'll take advantage, but Seth Godin, my favorite business guru, explains why you shouldn't worry about that.

If it's really just a matter of company policy, I'd suggest an opt-in parts return checkbox on the service request form. Two checkboxes: one says "Yes, I want my parts returned and have completed the attached waiver" and the other says "No, I do not want my old parts returned. I understand that they will be disposed of immediately after repairs are completed." The parts-return waiver should include, in plain simple language (reviewed by your lawyer) that they accept all responsibility for any use they make of these broken parts.

This doesn't, of course, prevent problems, or release you from an ethical responsibility to do your best to protect the safety and welfare of your customers, but you already knew that. What it does is get people to stop and think for a moment; to think hard enough that they're willing to put their thoughts on paper. You'd be amazed how many people have a slightly less passionate perspective when they realize they'll have to stand behind it.

My goal is to help you as a business-person to make the best of any situation. Since we can't control or change others, only ourselves, my advice will always be what you can do better or differently, and not aimed at your customers, vendors, or others.

A few more points:

• In deciding which course to follow, compare worst-case scenarios. As you realized later, it would have been better to have someone angry that you couldn't return their broken equipment, than to have something worse happen. Taking care of your customer doesn't always mean doing what they want, it means serving their best interests. I'd say refusing to return a defective electrical part would fall in that category.
• Any time you're not comfortable with your own actions (like returning the damaged part) reflect on why. If you're letting someone badger you into poor judgment, stand by what you know is right, and weather the storm. Only change your actions if you can change your perspective at the same time. Most things are indeed harder in practice than in theory, but the point of the theory is to give us guidelines for our practices—any time we settle for less than what our own rulebook (internal or external) says, we're saying that the theory we've created to run our business on doesn't apply in this case.
• I still stand by my original comment which prompted your email: When your customer needs service, don't make them worry about whose fault it was, or how this is going to get fixed. Just fix it. Surprise them with excellence, and the few bucks it'll cost you will be one of the best marketing investments you make this year. Maybe that customer won't care. But imagine the kind of marketing you could do if you had ended this story differently, creating something amazing for people to talk about. Create a story you can tell about how far you'll go to satisfy your customers. Psychology shows that if people think they have control they feel more secure and are more likely to tolerate something unpleasant. If your suspects (the people you think should do business with you) and your prospects (the people who think they should do business with you) see you as someone who genuinely puts them in control, aren't you more likely to get more of the good customers?

So, to finish, a step-by-step list of things which, done differently, could have materially affected the outcome:

1. Assume every customer is looking for a mutually beneficial long-term relationship, and that your job as the professional is guide them to what's in their best interest
2. When customers have critical choices (like whether or not to get their old parts back) make sure those decisions are clearly made up front, and that the consequences of each choice are clearly understood
3. Don't violate your own good judgment—remember, you're the professional.
4. If you decide not to keep the customer, let them go right away. Investing more in the relationship makes no more sense than sending an employee to a training class the day before you fire them.
5. If you're not going to fire the customer, be determined to take this marathon to the finish. Don't waffle.