MattMunnell.com

(This is a continuation of my series of closely held beliefs that aren’t so closely held anymore.)

“The Customer is Always Right!”

I first heard these words in 1981 when I started my career in retail. I was 17 tears old and didn’t tend to think too deeply on any subject let alone the subject of whether or not a customer is really always right or not. My manager said it, I got paid to follow what the manager said so…the customer was always right.

As I worked I began to notice that this was not always the case. There were many instances where the customer was clearly in the wrong but when I would point this out to my manager they would always tell me to look at rule number 2…

If the Customer is Wrong refer to Rule #1

Rule #1 of course was, “The Customer is Always Right.” Again, I didn’t think too deeply on the subject.

But as I matured, both as a human, a man and a retail store associate I did start thinking about Rule #1 and Rule #2. I knew why the rules were written but I also started to realize that they could not be absolute. They should not be followed blindly. As I moved into management myself and developed as a leader it became very clear that the customer could be wrong and I owed it to my associates, to the team I led, to point this out, to even defend them from wrong and/or rude customers. I definitely moved away from Rule #1 and Rule #2. I didn’t discount them totally. That would be suicide for my career and business as most customers were right. Most customers deserved our very best selves when we interacted with them. However, there were those few customers that deserved to “be fired.” That didn’t deserve the goodness delivered by my team.

I have had that same evolution in my relationship with the police. I grew up believing that the police were great, that they were always right and if they weren’t then I would go to rule #2. This worked for me where I grew up. It also worked for me as I moved into my career in retail. I always had a fantastic relationship with the local police. I used them as security in my stores and certainly developed a relationship with them as they would come to the store when we needed them for the many things that stores need police for. However, as I have grown I saw some interactions that bothered me when the police would come to the store, how they would handle themselves and the situation. I tried to explain it to myself that I didn’t understand what they do, I had never been in their shoes but I couldn’t shake some of my thoughts. These thoughts made me uncomfortable because of my closely held belief that the police were everybody’s friend (my childhood teaching) and that they were always right. I would ask some officers why they had to yell and handle situations so roughly. The usual reply was “to control the situation.” I know it was intimidating to me to observe how some controlled the situation so I could just imagine how I would feel if I was the target of the “control.”

As I have aged, as I have read, as I have watched, my closely held belief in Rule #1 and Rule #2 for both customers and police has faded away. Customers can be wrong. Police can be wrong. Some customers deserve to be fired. Some police deserve to be fired. Some customers deserve to be locked up. Some police deserve to be locked up. This isn’t to say I don’t like or support either. I absolutely love customers. I absolutely support the police. I teach my kids that the police are our friends and if we have issues we can reach out to them. But they have to “do right” or be held accountable for their choices and actions.

Rule #1 – Love each other

Rule #2 – Refer to rule #1