When The Customer is Wrong…

Posted by Laura Bergells

March 18, 2008

Consider the old chestnut, “The Customer is Always Right.”

Well, there’s an extreme value judgement for you! Morality, right and wrong, and eternity — what business maxim could possibly be more suspect?

If you’re a professional, you know that customers often have misconceptions. And as a pro, it’s your job to set them straight.

Embrace the misconceptions of your customers — their lack of knowledge in your field of expertise is often why they hired you!

photo credit: raketen_tim

If you are a professional, customers often approach you with all kinds of misconceptions. They want ”A” — and you advise them that “A” is not in their best interest. You explain why. You document your objections. You refuse to perform the “A” task, and suggest an alternative course of action. The customer may pout, they may argue — and they may even hire someone much less professional to do their bidding.

And if you’re a true professional, you let these clients go. While it might be easier to stroke a client’s ego, to do what they say, and to rack up some huge billable hours doing all the wrong things — you’re a professional. You advise against an improper course of action. And you go on record advising against it. You take a momentary financial hit, but you build a valuable long-term, professional reputation.

Here’s a tip: if your professionals are frequently agreeable and flattering, give them a little test. Come up with a real bone-headed idea, and see if they try to talk you out of it. You can try one of these examples:

Doctor: I want to eat nothing but butter, eggs, liver, and ham — and lower my cholesterol! Tell me how to make this work!
Hey Accountant: I ran across a website that told me paying income tax is unconstitutional, so help me to never, ever pay any income taxes ever again!
Dear Web Developer: I need you to implement my design vision. Code it any way you want, as long as it looks exactly the way I envision it.
Hi cute little ad agency account rep: My new small business needs branding. Get me a list of national sponsorhsips and campaigns I can buy into.

If you get budgets and timelines instead of arguments against implementation, it’s probably time to part company with your, uh, professionals!