By Jim McCarthy Apr 5, 2010 4 comments

Delivering Happiness

Tony Hsieh of Zappos will shortly be publishing a book called “Delivering Happiness:  A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose.”  He was kind enough to send me an advance copy, so I’ll be reading it sometime soon and reporting my thoughts.
He was also kind enough to send me a second copy to give away to one of you, so here’s what I’m going to do.  Either by comment or by email, tell me what you think of this statement:

“The customer is always right.”

I’m very curious to see what you have to say about that, and I’m going pick a winner not necessarily based on who I agree with, but with whose answer is most interesting.

Get it in by the end of the week!

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4 Comments

  • Kara Larson
    April 6th, 2010

    The customer is not, in fact always right. But the key to customer service is to leave the customer thinking that he’s always right, and that you wholeheartedly agree. Extra points for genuinely convincing him of that while not giving him what he originally thought he wanted.

  • Anne
    April 6th, 2010

    I would add a phrase to that sentence – “The customer is always right when it comes to their narrative.” No one is going to complain/speak up about something if they think they are wrong. And everyone has different narratives about how a customer service issue/complaint went down or how to best use your companies offerings or their opinions about your product period. Nothing is really ever objective, including whether or not someone is “right.” Sometimes, the best customer service is to explain a policy while still correcting whatever it is the customer is upset about, even if it they are not “right” according to your narrative. The customer believes to the core of their being that they are right – that’s why they are contacting you! So, take the time to talk to them, be sure listen, explain your view/policies, educate them if need be, then make it right for them as best you can. In other words, have a conversation. Why companies are so eager to hide behind rigid policies, half-explanations and turn a deaf ear to their customers baffles me….still doesn’t mean the customer is always right, but you should always treat every contact with a customer as an opportunity for both of you to learn about each other.

  • Cleora Ebadi
    December 6th, 2010

    Amazing article. Did you read the related piece in the Huffington Publish a while again? Evidently more and more mainstream media are having to pay consideration to this. I hope your web site will get increasingly more subscribers as this issue will get more protection, as it is a superb useful resource.

  • Shea Warters
    December 7th, 2010

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