One of the fundamental myths of retail is “the customer is always right.”
The problem with the myth is it is too simplistic and its tenants often abuse its purpose and those people whose lives are dependent on earning their livelihoods in the retail industry.
Instead of saying, “The customer is always right,” we should, instead, say, “Every single customer has a series of undeniable rights,” and anyone earning a living in the retail industry has a responsibility to adhere to those rights 100% of the time. Balancing those rights are also a series of responsibilities that each customer owes to uphold as well.
Your Undeniable Customer Rights
You should be valued and be made to feel valued. No retail organization or any other type of organization can exist without its customers or clients. As one of those people, you deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and honesty regardless of your socio-economic background whether in-person, online, or on the telephone every time period.
You should always receive appropriate value for your patronage, money, and time. To earn trust, respect, loyalty, and patronage, each merchant or organization must provide better value to its customers than what they can find anywhere else. As a customer you may be motivated by security, utility, savings, pleasure, or prestige; however, ultimately, you will make your decision based on the value offered and delivered to you.
You deserve the best service possible. As a customer or client, youshould be acknowledged promptly and given the space and time needed to either look around or to be served quickly depending on the type of organization and your intention. Customers expect prompt, friendly, and helpful service whether they are looking for a service or product. As an experienced retail person, we should be as helpful for a small purchase as we are when you are making a large purchase. If a merchant establishes trust with you and satisfies your wants and needs they have the opportunity to keep your patronage as a loyal customer for potentially upwards of five decades, so long as they continue to provide the best service and experience for you.
You deserve to be greeted with a smile; whether in-person, on the phone, or online. Customers and clients like you are why so many organizations exist, you should never feel like an interruption, you are the priority and reason for merchants to exist. You should be greeted warmly when you arrive and thanked when you leave.
You Loyalty must be earned. A key customer right you and all other customers have is the right of choosing whom to deal with. Whether an individual sales associate or at an organizational level, customers and clients have the right to choose who they wish to deal with. Loyalty is a function of earned value, any merchant who believes otherwise does not have a future in today’s world and does not deserve your business.
To be free from misrepresentation. Too many retailers feel quite justified in having sales that are not really sales; many of these same merchants will say what they need to close a deal. Integrity needs to mean something, find merchants who say what they mean, do what they say, and stand behind the products and services they offer in the marketplace.
You deserve to understand their ground rules or standards and to have products and services explained clearly and concisely. Customers and clients, especially new ones, may not understand what an organization does. Merchants should clearly and concisely help you to make informed decisions based on proper explanation and a discussion of your options. You should never be surprised by something unexpected at any point in your experience with an organization. Few things are more disappointing than receiving a product or service and realizing you require an additional service or product to enjoy the benefits of your purchase.
Sales are about solving YOUR problem, want, or need. Successful merchants listen, offer alternatives, and provide education and demonstrations; all to allow you to choose your best option.
You should receive honest, helpful, and prompt answers to your questions. The number one customer service issue for many industries every year is organizations not calling their customers back when they said they will. In-person queries are easy to address, on occasion, an answer must be researched and a response provided. You have the right to expect an organization to fulfill this responsibility; an organization that cannot, deserve to lose you as a customer. Additionally, you should never have to call a merchant to inquire about the status of a back-ordered purchase.
Your issues should always be resolved quickly, efficiently, and fairly. Things break and sometimes do not work as advertised. You and all customers have the right to have these issues resolved with as little inconvenience to their lives as possible. While service resolution does rely on repairs and certain processes, too many organizations hide behind those same processes and policies that make their lives easier and better without truly appreciating the impact on you and your suffering through no fault of their own.
Your Responsibilities as a Customer
You should be reasonable about time frames and abilities. In my experience, many merchants want to resolve issues as quickly as possible. They are literally the middle-person between what a customer wants and what a vendor will provide. Allowing these merchants time to respond with patience will help everyone to resolve their issues.
You should never swear, threaten, or demean. As a customer you deserve honesty, respect, and dignity, and you have a responsibility to reflect these traits back when dealing with a provider of services and/or products. Too many customers/clients believe they have to become belligerent to get what they want and this isn’t true for most merchants and it is very unfair. Everyone with a problem needs to appreciate the impact of their behavior, especially if the target of their attack is a young person.
You must be honest. I have encountered some customers who to get what they want will embellish, exaggerate, and sometimes bend the truth to get what they want. These people only make up a small percentage of customers; however, because of them, merchants are wary of everyone and often react by enacting policies to protect themselves which ironically make it more difficult to resolve other customer issues.
You should say thank you and acknowledge merchants who do a good job. Merchants and retail workers are almost constantly verbally abused by a fraction of their customers and/or clients. Many of these attacks, although directed at an organization are internalized by front-line workers. These workers too often only hear the negative comments and complaints, you have a responsibility to recognize good work when it happens and to acknowledge it with a thank you.
As with everything, no extreme is justified, the customer is not always right nor is the merchant. Building customer service and relationships through respect, trust, honesty, and perspective form the basis of success for both sides. As a customer, you have rights that should help you decide which merchant to patronize; you also have responsibilities as well that will make a difference in how you ultimately are treated by those who dedicate their careers to serving our needs.
Good luck,
Paul.