I recently found myself in a discussion about the saying ‘The
customer is king’. The reason for the discussion was that I reacted with slight unease when someone, rather superficially, claimed that the customer is always king. Of course, every company and every employee should hold that motto
, but I do have my reservations.
The conversation leading up to the discussion focused on
customer interests, and how important it is to do everything for the customer and
exceed their expectations. At first, I could still
agree with what was being said, but in the end, in my view, it went too
far.
Can you go too far in putting the customer’s interests first?
Not strictly speaking, of course, but I do think you can go too far by insisting
that the customer must always be right, that as a company you must always do whatever
the customer asks. I really did protest when it was pointed out that you must never
a customer.
Working transparently
To get the supply chain properly organised, we need to work transparently
. Naturally, this starts within your own company, but if you look
further afield, suppliers and customers must also be involved in
processes. Only then can balanced and
coordinated processes – and however unpleasant it may be, this occasionally means we
have to say ‘no’, or ‘no, but’ or ‘yes, but’ to a customer.
Even more important than always saying ‘yes’ to a customer is being open and
genuine with a customer. Of course, we do our utmost to accommodate a customer
as much as possible, but if there’s something we really can’t deliver, the customer (and we
ultimately too) are better off if we say that something isn’t feasible. If we
can then also provide a realistic picture of what is achievable and
actually deliver on that commitment, the customer is ultimately better served than in
the scenario where we promise all sorts of things simply because the customer asks for them, only to
ultimately have to let them down because it won’t work out after all.
The customer is king, but in a different way
If we manage to clearly set out what we can do and
where our limits lie, and share that information with the customer, the customer
truly become king. Then the customer knows what to expect from us, we can
deliver on our promises, and the customer knows exactly where they stand.
In that case, the customer is king again in a way that I fully
support. Everyone can make an effort, based on realistic agreements, to
fulfil those commitments. There’s every chance that this will lead to a satisfied customer
.
Frits de Wind - Logistics consultant
