A customer is not always right

There's an old adage "A customer is always right" believing that what a customer says about a product or service of a business is always true and absolute. Anybody who actually believe that a "customer is always right" is simply naive in the way the world works. Customers are still human beings. They are still capable of lying and deceiving in order to get what they want. It's true that businesses should listen to what customers have to say and be understanding of their comments or opinions but that does not mean a company should bend over backward at every whims from every customer.  Many businesses do listen out of concern to ensure that they offer the best services or products possible. It's about having the courtesy to listen to their customers first. 

"I don't think that the customer is always right any more than I think that the employees are always right or that a shareholder is always right," conceded Reichheld. "You do owe it to your business to understand the root cause of the feedback and what implications it has on your decision making, prioritization and your actions. But, there are criminals out there that are your customers. You want to keep those customers away. Not just from your cash registers but from your employees too, because they are abusive and they make life hell for everyone in your business. The Net Promoter Score is based on the golden rule that we should treat others the way we would want to be treated in their shoes, but it takes a lot of deep thinking to do this right. It's not superficial. Think about what actions a business takes when it gets a zero or a one score? The business should dig in to figure out what's wrong, try to fix it and understand how it feels to be in the customer's shoes, but it doesn't always mean that they are the right customers for your business."

Let's take the ZVRS post-NAD vote latest brouhaha concerning the whole "deaf militants" snafu by which Julian Moiwai have already issued a public apology on Twitter for his "militant" remark.  For a person who works for ZVRS to make a public comment in such a manner breaks the typical cardinal rule of any businesses and that is to stay "neutral" in the areas of politics. That's typically the golden rule and not that a customer is always right. In this case, deaf politics is the area of politics that ZVRS tried to avoid in the first place (but spectacularly failed in this instance) when most of their customers are the signing deaf and hard of hearing customers.

You might be aware of the NAD Presidential elections. Chris Wagner – our Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Marketing – has been selected to serve as the NAD’s next president. Regardless of your support prior to and after the elections, I would like to ask you to do us a favor.

ZVRS is currently being bombarded on social media by Sheri supporters or so-called “Deaf militiants.” Please do not participate in any means of communication by putting gas into this flame.

If you come across something that appears offensive or defamatory toward ZVRS, please send a direct link to my attention, and it will be followed through.

Julian Moiwai unwittingly was the one who put "gas into this flame."  But he stepped up and apologized to Sheri Farinha (one of two candidates for the NAD presidency) in public on Twitter (although never contacted her personally first (email or video phone) which was another business rule of thumb that ZVRS broke where she found out about the apology from other sources).

The old adage "customers are always right" is false. Some customers are right. Sometimes they are wrong. And others simply aren't being truthful. It is the duty of businesses to listen to all of their customers.

Congratulations to Chris Wagner as the next NAD president for 2012 - 2014 term. He had the graciousness to thank Sheri after the vote seen at the 4 minute mark.