Be Your Customer's Hero

CHAPTER 1

The Customer Is Always __________

Let’s start with a quiz. It’s a simple one. Just fill in the blank in the chapter title. If you’ve worked in customer service, one word will almost certainly come to mind to complete the phrase. It’s the phrase that has been drilled into our heads, for better or worse, since our first exposure to customer service.

And let’s be real—none of us are particularly fond of it.

At a recent conference, I struck up a conversation with a frontline service rep. When I mentioned that I was writing a book on customer service, the first words out of his mouth were, “What do you think of the saying, ‘The customer is always right’”?

“I think it’s ridiculous,” I replied.

He smiled, and then gave me a good-natured slap ...