{"id":353,"date":"2015-03-31T13:48:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T19:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journeyinstitute.org\/blog\/?p=353"},"modified":"2015-03-31T13:48:15","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T19:48:15","slug":"it-doesnt-matter-if-the-customer-is-always-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/2015\/03\/31\/it-doesnt-matter-if-the-customer-is-always-right\/","title":{"rendered":"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/journeyinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/shrooms1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-354 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/journeyinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/shrooms1-300x211.jpg\" alt=\"shrooms\" width=\"300\" height=\"211\" \/><\/a>I was taught growing up that \u2018the customer is always right\u2019.\u00a0 An axiom I have found to be true more often than not, but does that really matter?<\/p>\n<p>Not if your business, or more importantly, your employees don\u2019t know it, don\u2019t believe it, or worse, aren\u2019t empowered to enforce it.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Shankman wrote a wonderful blog post recently that clearly illustrated this point.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/shankman.com\/would-you-lose-a-customer-over-seven-cents\/\">http:\/\/shankman.com\/would-you-lose-a-customer-over-seven-cents\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In Peter\u2019s case he was right, but that didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 The woman behind the counter either didn\u2019t know or believe that he was right, and perhaps worst of all, she may not have been empowered to make that decision.<\/p>\n<p>In this new business-age of global competition and greater customer choice, what matters most is customer service.\u00a0 How we service our customers will differentiate us from our competitors now more than it ever has.<\/p>\n<p>When you\u2019re starting your own business and it\u2019s just you it\u2019s easy to hold true to your philosophy of customer service.\u00a0 It\u2019s much more difficult, and much more important, when you grow and expand that your employees not only share your vision of customer service, but that you empower them to be able to do so.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u00a0Questions to think about:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Do my employees know what our business philosophy is regarding customer service?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Can my employees make unilateral decisions to enforce that philosophy?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Have I talked to my customers to make sure our customer service philosophy is meeting their needs?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Do our customers have a readily available and easy mechanism for escalating when our customer service doesn\u2019t meet their needs?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em>Questions are at the heart of any change.\u00a0 If you need to change some aspect of your business, you need to change the questions you\u2019re asking.<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-353\" data-postid=\"353\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-353 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_7bqd270 tb_first tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-2 tb_me0y271 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_747o786   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">A Journey Institute Press Imprint<\/h4>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\">Storytellers <br>Publishing<\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">General Non-Fiction<\/h3>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-2 tb_s28j661 last\">\n                    <!-- module image pro -->\n<div  class=\"module module-pro-image tb_3em6264 filter-none effect-none   tf_textl   entrance-effect-fadeIn\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-entrance-effect=\"fadeIn\" data-exit-effect=\"fadeOut\" >\n\t\n    <div class=\"image-pro-wrap tf_rel tf_overflow tf_inline_b\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box-wrap tf_rel tf_w tf_overflow\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box tf_rel\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-250x250.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-338\" title=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" alt=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024.jpg 1019w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-768x772.jpg 768w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-225x225.jpg 225w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz.jpg 1047w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n    <\/div><!-- .image-pro-wrap -->\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t<\/div><!-- \/module image pro -->        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_fjxh227 tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top gutter-none tb_col_count_4 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-1 tb_kjid338 first\">\n                    <!-- module image pro -->\n<div  class=\"module module-pro-image tb_o2rn890 filter-none effect-none   tf_textr   entrance-effect-fadeIn\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-entrance-effect=\"fadeIn\" data-exit-effect=\"fadeOut\" >\n\t\n    <div class=\"image-pro-wrap tf_rel tf_overflow tf_inline_b\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box-wrap tf_rel tf_w tf_overflow\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box tf_rel\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/HardBackImage-1024x576-250x300.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-278\" title=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" alt=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n    <\/div><!-- .image-pro-wrap -->\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t<\/div><!-- \/module image pro --><!-- module image pro -->\n<div  class=\"module module-pro-image tb_hvt9544 filter-none effect-none   tf_textr   entrance-effect-fadeIn\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-entrance-effect=\"fadeIn\" data-exit-effect=\"fadeOut\" >\n\t\n    <div class=\"image-pro-wrap tf_rel tf_overflow tf_inline_b\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"image-pro-external tf_abs tf_w tf_h\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/My-Modena-Laughter-Exhilaration-Italy\/dp\/1737359103\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=My+Modena&#038;qid=1629691566&#038;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Link<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t   \t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box-wrap tf_rel tf_w tf_overflow\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box tf_rel\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842-50x41.png\" width=\"50\" height=\"41\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-283\" title=\"Paris 034\" alt=\"Paris 034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842-50x41.png 50w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-300x247.png 300w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842.png 1024w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-768x632.png 768w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842-100x82.png 100w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon.png 1121w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 50px) 100vw, 50px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n    <\/div><!-- .image-pro-wrap -->\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t<\/div><!-- \/module image pro -->        <\/div>\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-1 tb_4eol339\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_p5iv718   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <figure id=\"attachment_253\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-253\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-253 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Andrea-2020-1-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ANDREA GELFUSO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After her husband was given a job for a year in Italy, Andrea and the rest of their family joined him on the adventure; and what an adventure it was. Often trying to do the simplest of things, her story captures the hilarity of an American in Italy trying to navigate a country that seems as foreign as should be familiar.\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_moqp644   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Wherever books are sold<\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module image pro -->\n<div  class=\"module module-pro-image tb_fw53166 filter-none effect-none   tf_textl   entrance-effect-fadeIn\" data-lazy=\"1\" data-entrance-effect=\"fadeIn\" data-exit-effect=\"fadeOut\" >\n\t\n    <div class=\"image-pro-wrap tf_rel tf_overflow tf_inline_b\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"image-pro-external tf_abs tf_w tf_h\" href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/my-modena-andrea-susan-valentine-gelfuso-goetz\/1139906136?ean=9781737359104\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Link<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t   \t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box-wrap tf_rel tf_w tf_overflow\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image-pro-flip-box tf_rel\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BN-50x34.png\" width=\"50\" height=\"34\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-284\" title=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" alt=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BN-50x34.png 50w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BN.png 136w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 50px) 100vw, 50px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n    <\/div><!-- .image-pro-wrap -->\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t<\/div><!-- \/module image pro -->        <\/div>\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-1 tb_rttu339\">\n                            <\/div>\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-1 tb_ousu493 last\">\n                            <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was taught growing up that \u2018the customer is always right\u2019.\u00a0 An axiom I have found to be true more often than not, but does that really matter? Not if your business, or more importantly, your employees don\u2019t know it, don\u2019t believe it, or worse, aren\u2019t empowered to enforce it. Peter Shankman wrote a wonderful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"builder_content":"<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">A Journey Institute Press Imprint<\/h4> <h1 style=\"text-align: left;\">Storytellers <br>Publishing<\/h1> <h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">General Non-Fiction<\/h3>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-250x250.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" title=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" alt=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024.jpg 1019w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-768x772.jpg 768w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-225x225.jpg 225w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz-1019x1024-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Storytellers_sz.jpg 1047w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/HardBackImage-1024x576-250x300.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" title=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" alt=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/My-Modena-Laughter-Exhilaration-Italy\/dp\/1737359103\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=My+Modena&#038;qid=1629691566&#038;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Link<\/a> \n <img src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842-50x41.png\" width=\"50\" height=\"41\" title=\"Paris 034\" alt=\"Paris 034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842-50x41.png 50w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-300x247.png 300w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842.png 1024w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-768x632.png 768w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon-1024x842-100x82.png 100w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Amazon.png 1121w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 50px) 100vw, 50px\" \/>\n[caption id=\"attachment_253\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"150\"]<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Andrea-2020-1-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"> ANDREA GELFUSO[\/caption] <p>After her husband was given a job for a year in Italy, Andrea and the rest of their family joined him on the adventure; and what an adventure it was. Often trying to do the simplest of things, her story captures the hilarity of an American in Italy trying to navigate a country that seems as foreign as should be familiar.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wherever books are sold<\/strong><\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/my-modena-andrea-susan-valentine-gelfuso-goetz\/1139906136?ean=9781737359104\" target=\"_blank\">Link<\/a> \n <img src=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BN-50x34.png\" width=\"50\" height=\"34\" title=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" alt=\"It doesn\u2019t matter if the customer is always right\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BN-50x34.png 50w, https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BN.png 136w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 50px) 100vw, 50px\" \/>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devjourneyinstitute.com\/ji\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}