The Customer Is Always Right

When I was young and working in sales, I never fully understood the reasoning behind the phrase, “The customer is always right”. I had seen so many customers who ran the sales staff ragged with nasty attitudes and indecision. Nothing was ever right.

These people had a snarky comment for everything until they shot down every option and each attempt the salesperson made to make them happy. The size wasn’t right, the product was inferior, the color was wrong (after clearly stating that this was the color they’d wanted), the help was incompetent and so on.

What could a salesperson do? Either continue to try to please the customer or lose the job. The manager would always side with the customer, making the salesperson look even worse. You call that “right”?

I call it injustice, and that’s why I don’t work in sales anymore. Difficult customers appear in every field, though.

A few jobs may seem like a godsend. The money is great, and the work a little challenging but fun. You’re great at what you do, and you’re confident you can deliver.

Then the “honeymoon” phase happens. Everyone on both sides is very friendly and pleasant, and the job is going well. You might get a few texts returned because both sides are still fishing for the right tone and working out the quirks of the project – that’s normal. Sometimes, everything works out, and the whole process runs smooth as silk.

Other times, the customer isn’t satisfied. It’s never about the mechanics of the work, quality of the work, or customer service the client receives. It’s about personal preferences – the client just doesn’t like what you did, even though you gave them exactly what they asked for.

You probably have some feed back to help you revise the job. You might put a few hours, clean things up, polish your work, and then send it to the client – only to be told it still isn’t right. So, you spend a few hard (and probably unpaid) hours to revise the work based on the client’s latest comments and feedback and get told you have to fix it – again. You might even get a snappy, rude email with the rejection.

Where do you draw the line and say enough is enough, and when do you dig in and try to make it better and please the client, even though you’re not sure what the client wants (and you’ve asked). Are you paid enough to put up with garbage? How much are you willing to compromise? If the answers are “not enough” and “none”, then end the project. Write your client a thanks-but-no-thanks, and call it a day. If you do feel the money or effort is worth it, then by all means, keep going.

It’s one thing to please your clients, but it’s another to be abused by them. You have rights too. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself. Maybe the client isn’t aware that he or she is being difficult. Maybe you’ll give them a wake up call that you may just throw in the towel and leave them to find someone else to be rude to. I’ve had that happen many times. Sometimes taking a chance and calling it quits can work in your favor.

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