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I have read several articles the past few weeks on the subject of customer service. In these articles, the idea of the customer always being right came up more than once. The conversation between sales people was quite entertaining as the concepts of customer service were bantered around. One person said, “Of course the customer is always right,” while another declared “No the customer is not always right …”

I think that instead of worrying about who is right and who is wrong, we, as business owners, need to consider the question, “How can I treat my customers in such a way that I create a business that they can count on?” You see, if I treat my customers in this way, they will not expect me to never make a mistake. And when I do they will have the same consideration for me as they will see from me when the mistake is theirs. This kind of mutual respect is what makes companies worthy of referrals and customers worthy of special treatment.

It seems that in this day of easily hurt feelings and people being offended over little to nothing, that the companies that stand out from the masses are those whose worries are not right vs. wrong, but respect and dignity being shown by all parties. If we business owners cannot show that kind of respect to someone who is or might be our customer, then perhaps we should have the courage to not take them on in the first place. We should also be willing to let a current client/customer go if they refuse to show us the level of respect that we are working hard to show them.

In the end, we cannot please everyone all the time, but if we work to deal honestly and respectfully with our customers/clients we will build a business that they can count on!