"The Customer is Always Right": A Modern Take on Customer Support

Research shows that customer experience is more valuable to businesses now than ever. It’s one of the key areas in your business that can give you an edge over competitors. Sincere and responsive customer service is crucial for retaining customers, an increasingly challenging feat given the high competition.

Yet “the customer is always right” can have different meanings, and adapting this philosophy to fit modern standards is essential. Contrastingly, the familiar legal maxim caveat emptor, meaning “let the buyer beware,” shifts responsibility to the customer for the quality of a product, standing in opposition to the customer-centric philosophy.

In this guide, I’ll explore the origins of this saying, examine how it aligns with customer expectations, and discuss what to do when the customer isn’t entirely correct.

Understanding the Concept

What does “the customer is always right” mean?

The phrase “the customer is always right” has long been a cornerstone of customer service philosophy, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customers should be treated with respect and trust, and their needs and expectations should be met to the best of the company’s abilities. It fosters a positive customer experience, encouraging customers to return and build a lasting relationship with the brand.

However, it’s crucial to understand that this phrase doesn’t imply that the customer is always right in every situation. Instead, it underscores the importance of listening to the customer’s voice and addressing their concerns with empathy and sincerity. By doing so, companies can create a supportive environment where customers feel valued and heard, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The history of “the customer is always right”

“The customer is always right” has been a staple of customer service philosophy for over a century. 

However, the actual origin of the phrase still needs to be clarified. Some claim that it came from Harry Gordon Selfridge, the first department store owner of the Selfridges chain. Others say it came from Marshall Field (of Marshall Field and Company) or John Wanamaker (of Wanamaker’s department store). 

But regardless of where it came from, the advent of the term “customer” significantly changed the relationship between the buyer and seller in the 20th century. 

Merchants, who could previously sell any product in any condition and at any price point, had to reassess their strategy once customers started demanding more respect in their dealings and better quality products. It marked a rightful shift in the customer service industry, which became about capturing and protecting customer loyalty to gain an edge over competitors. 

As a result, product quality dramatically increased, and terms like “customer-centric,” “customer obsession,” and “customer intimacy” were born. 

However, in modern times, it’s important to revisit that all-important phrase and reframe it according to standards. The relationship between customer agents and customers has skewed too much in favor of the latter in the modern age.

Reframing the phrase in modern support 

The problem with “the customer is always right” in the 21st century is that the phrase dumbs down the highly nuanced relationship between a support agent and a loyal customer. It makes it more adversarial than a proper give-and-take relationship in which both parties can openly share their opinions and develop rapport. This adversarial nature often stems from the perception that customers might take advantage of the policy, leading to strained interactions.

Customer support agents should refrain from trying to contradict customers at every turn or not to try to make them happy. It’s more about saving themselves from burnout while maintaining happy customers as their highest priority. Establishing this balance can help save you from agent burnout and keep the quality of your customer service intact.

Besides, customer service isn’t about making the customer happy at all costs — it’s about listening to their needs with an open mind and offering sincere advice. In this modern era, we must look past the one-dimensional nature of “the customer is always right” and admit that customers aren’t always right or wrong.

They just need help. They want someone to listen and offer a quick, personalized resolution to their problems while being empathetic. And that’s only possible if we stop seeing them as adversaries who must be made happy.

If you can introduce empathy into your customer service, your customers and service agents will start valuing and respecting each other as they should.

Understanding the needs of both customers and support agents 

The phrase “the customer is always right” can’t be modernized until we try to understand the needs of both customers and support agents. Fortunately for you, this section is dedicated to looking into their needs in-depth. 

Customer needs

Three things are most important for a customer engaging with a service agent.

• Quick resolutions: A customer’s time is essential. They want their issues solved quickly and without unnecessary delays. Usually, the customer expects the support staff to respond swiftly and promptly to solve their problems. They loathe being transferred from agent to agent and for that new agent to ask them the same frustrating questions. In their mind, a new agent should already have been brought up to speed and should quickly diagnose the problem to provide a well-thought-out solution. Sometimes, customers may have unrealistic expectations regarding product functionality, so it’s crucial to realign these expectations and ensure they understand what can be achieved.

• Effective communication: Customers want service agents to be transparent, clear, and concise. No one enjoys being confused with technical jargon when the situation can be explained plainly. At the same time, being honest and transparent about the issue, what you’re doing to fix it, and how much time it could take go a long way toward earning a customer’s trust. Just make sure you listen attentively to their problem, develop a proper solution, and keep the customer updated while your solution takes shape.

• Empathetic support: Empathy makes the customer feel valued and heard. That’s how you create loyal customers. In many cases, the situation can escalate and cause real frustration or distress for the client. A service agent’s job is to be warm and supportive in customer interactions. Make them feel you understand their frustrations and treat them with patience and compassion.

Agent needs

Agents engaging with customers only have three important needs. These include:

• Proper workload management: Overloading a customer service agent to increase efficiency is usually problematic. A better approach is to offer each agent a reasonable volume of cases, giving them enough time to engage with every customer and develop a comprehensive solution. Too many cases can lead to fatigue and lower the overall quality of the service. 

• Respectful interactions: Respect goes both ways. If an agent listens attentively and patiently to a customer explaining their issues, they expect the same level of respect and compassion from the other end. Plus, the interaction goes much smoother when everyone speaks respectfully to each other. 

• Supportive environment: Agents also demand respect fromtheir higher-ups. It means providing them with the right tools, user-friendly systems, knowledge bases, and customer information to do the job well and be as customer-centric as possible. Plus, they expect management to be supportive and recognize that dealing with difficult customers can also tax agents. 

The role of the HelpDesk system in supporting balanced customer support 

HelpDesk can be a support agent’s best friend when dealing with customers. Especially if they feel overwhelmed and need to organize customer service requests quickly. 

Here’s how HelpDesk helps:

• Ticket prioritization & automation: Each customer inquiry is assigned a unique ticket and organized automatically according to priority. They ensure that critical issues are addressed promptly without overwhelming agents.

• AI-powered solutions: AI and automation systems streamline repetitive tasks and route tickets to specific departments, enhancing agent efficiency.

• Collaboration tools: HelpDesk offer various plugins and integrations with CRM tools, allowing for seamless escalation from automated responses to human agents.

Best practices: When the customer isn’t right 

The customer can only be right sometimes. To be a successful retailer and prevent a situation from escalating too far, you need to know when the customer is wrong and how to handle those situations.

Scenarios where the customer is wrong and how to fix them

Customers can be a pain to deal with sometimes, and it’s primarily because of:

• Unreasonable demands or abusive behavior.

• Policy violations or misunderstandings. 

Here’s how your service agents should solve these problems.

• Agents should not lose their composure in any given situation. However, they must explain and respond to unreasonable demands or policy violations as empathetically as possible.  

• Utilize HelpDesk to document interactions and be completely transparent and fair when dealing with customers.

• Always ask for customer feedback to improve your systems by learning from your mistakes. 

Balancing customer satisfaction with agent empowerment

Your customer service agents are your assets — they deserve as much appreciation and respect as your customers. 

The more you appreciate your customer agent, the more motivated they will be to resolve customer problems as quickly and effectively as possible. 

As a business owner, you need to consider and use the following tools for your success and empowering agents:

• Feedback loops: Establish a feedback routine where you check in and ask about the workplace environment every month or week. Regular agent feedback helps identify pain points and improves workflows.

• Training modules: The customer service industry is improving daily, and your agents must be consistently updated on the latest developments. Continuous education helps agents stay confident and knowledgeable.

• Analytics & reporting: Tools like HelpDesk can help you quantify the quality of both your customer and agent satisfaction. Use HelpDesk’s built-in reporting to track agent performance and customer satisfaction, allowing for data-driven improvements.

Summary

The phrase “the customer is always right” revolutionized the customer support industry in the 20th century. It also revolutionized the overall relationship between service providers, retailers, and customers.

However, according to modern standards, that phrase is skewed too heavily towards the customer. For the relationship between customer and support agent to be healthy, mutual respect and compassion must be mutual. 

The balance between the agent and customer must be maintained to ensure that agents stay energized and that the customer’s needs and wishes remain the company’s highest priority. 

It’s to ensure that you need tools like HelpDesk to help you streamline operations and get data-driven feedback. But most of all, you need empathy and patience from both sides.