Is the Customer always right?

Jovana Ugrinic
46 replies
How do you manage to stay calm when dealing with challenging clients? I personally try to be assertive while remaining kind despite tough circumstances. Easier said than done, though.

Replies

Sophia Solanki
No, but you should always listen to them - there's a lot of insight in customer conversations. Their problems are more revealing than the solutions they may offer - so listen with that bias.
Relja Denic
That's the way to do it, but if they go overboard I can go overboard too :D
Jake Harrison
No, I only accept that customers can describe what their problems are, but they can not find a solution without your help
Claire Wiley
I struggle with this for sure - getting conflicting feedback and sometimes not knowing what to prioritize when
Adams Parker
The customer is always the right. We try to stay cool
Woods Shop
Keep calm. It is the best weapon.
Christin Koehler
Keep calm. It is the best weapon.
Janusz Mirowski
yes and no :D depends XD
Constantin Wintoniak
I have worked with a lot of German-speaking clients, so culturally, there might be differences ;) that being said: In my experience, "The customer is always right" is more a guiding principle than an absolute. It emphasizes valuing customer perceptions. Yet, there are times when customers might have misconceptions. In these moments, I've found that active listening and empathy are crucial. And when they both fail, I have more than once succeeded by more bluntly stating the obvious. But as I said, this might work better for some clients (and target groups) than for others.
Vivek Sharma
No, customers are not always right, but their concerns should be acknowledged and addressed professionally. Always stay calm with difficult customers, try to understand their concerns, and find solutions.
@vivek_equp nailed it! It does become easier the more you do it, right?
Žiga Kerec
Before cars innovators asked people what they wish for and they said a faster horse not a machine.
Toni
Customer needs your product as much as you need them. So it remains a « business » relationship that works both ways. If the complaint is legitimate, try to find solutions and alternatives and be empathetic (if they are challenging it’s then probably because they do need your product) and understand the deep source of the complaint. If they are just rude or condescending for the sake of it, stay calm and get rid of them.
Igor Lysenko
The client is the person for whom we work; if a large percentage of users do not like the product, then we need to change until they like it.
@ixord I agree if there is indeed a pattern. In that case, you can spin that challenging behaviour around by being more receptive to all the feedback you can get and act upon it (quickly).
Lusine Sargsyan
For me, keeping cool in these situations means being assertive yet kind, no matter how tough it gets. It's definitely easier said than done :)) Back in my days as a CSM at a SaaS company, I bumped into my fair share of not-so-happy campers :D Some even got a bit colorful with their language. For me, the trick is not to take it personally. Instead, I'd politely let 'em know that if they kept at it, I'd have to pull the plug. In some cases, things got so wild that we had to cut off chat and phone access for those clients. And guess what? They stuck around! Goes to show, setting boundaries can actually improve things.
Daniel Zaitzow
I think it depends on the nature of the business - if you work in hospitality - very rarely is the customer wrong - I find that with the veil of the computer / in some SaaS spaces - theres more of a symbiotic relationship so being more frank with your customers (enterprise or otherwise) about limitations is really important. and yea always deliver it in a kind assertive way - optimally you've built enough rapport building up to this point where its not a shock to them to get information they don't want to hear.
Philipp Shay
yes, but you can manage it))))
Yannick
I'm unable to do that. I'd prefer to develop an AI chatbot to handle these individuals instead of having to deal with them.
@mho22 love this! this may or may not be the very reason why we've started this whole customer service automation game, not gonna lie!