Or is he? Or is she? It depends.

In business, a customer disagreement, whether mild or angrily confrontational, must be reviewed in regards to consequences. What happens to the business if the customer is allowed to be right regardless of who is correct? In most cases, this review must be done quickly, frequently within seconds or minutes.

Let’s look at a couple of examples.

A couple goes out to dinner. They order their meal, and when delivered, the lady’s entrée is not what she ordered. The server asks, “What’s wrong.” The lady politely responds, “I ordered the chicken lo mein not the vegetable lo mein. But, the vegetable low mein is fine, I’ll keep it.” The affronted server proceeds to argue with the customer that she did not order chicken. When the server looks to the gentleman for agreement, he adds, “I heard her order the chicken.” In response, the server continues to argue about the delivered meal.  

Had the customer been obnoxious, the server’s attitude might be justified but still unacceptable. However, since the customer responded that the food error was all right; the server should have politely apologized, even if they thought their delivery was correct, and left the diners in peace.  Had the customer been firm about their order, either politely or obnoxiously, the server should have offered to bring the chicken lo mein.

Why? The cost of the additional food is minor when compared to the business needs. Neighborhood restaurants need repeat customers to stay in business. Keeping people coming back outweighs the cost of the one dish. Plus, other diners overhearing the exchange would be encouraged by the restaurant’s response.

Now, let’s review another example taken from before the gun purchasing laws changed and background checks became more stringent.

The man and his inebriated friend enter the sports store to look at guns. They select one and proceed to attempt to purchase the gun along with a box of ammunition. The inebriated man wanted to buy the gun, but his answers to the federally mandated questionnaire were not acceptable. He, in turn, asked his friend to buy the gun for him. However, the employee chose not to sell the gun to the reasonable friend knowing who actually wanted the gun. The inebriated man proceeded to argue his rights for obtaining the gun.

The employee and the business kept their position and refused to sell the weapon. It was a good sale, an expensive sale and would have been perfectly legal when sold to the friend. But, knowing who really wanted the gun and knowing what consequences could occur, the business refused to let the inebriated customer to be “right” and obtain the weapon.

With customer disagreements, a business must weigh the consequences quickly. They must decide their position, either the customer is right or the customer is wrong, in order to minimize any negative impact to their revenue, their reputation or to people.

This lesson of customer service comes from the restaurant industry, but the example applies to other businesses as well.

Did you know that your sense of smell is closely tied to your sense of taste? Think about that for a minute.

Have you ever been eating and someone introduced a strong odor – either pleasant or unpleasant – near you? Did the strong smell change your enjoyment of what you were eating?

Now, let’s look at some restaurant situations that negatively impact your dining pleasure.

Our first example applies more to the style of restaurants that do not have table linens.

As Jim and Sally enjoy their meal, the group of people near them finishes their meal and leaves. Being a busy restaurant, the cleaning crew promptly arrives to clear the table. After the dishes are removed, the crew sprays a cleaning solution on the table. Perhaps the cleaning spray is a bleach solution or a more pleasant smelling cleaner. Either way, Jim and Sally meal now “taste” the cleaning solution as they try to enjoy the rest of their meal.

Similarly, and this can apply to all service restaurants, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones peruse their menu for their business dinner. Their wait staff arrives to take their order and the smell of their overused cologne or perfume permeates the air and lingers even after they leave the area. Anytime this wait person approaches their table, they receive an overwhelming dose of the scent. Whether pleasant or obnoxious, too much scent overcomes the taste of the food for Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones.

Now, you’re wondering, “My business is not related to food, how does this apply?”

Think of the smell as symbolism for anything that deters your customers from enjoying your products and services. You have the best products (=food), but if you introduce distractions (=smells) in your selling process, you lose customers, either immediately or as return customers.

Perhaps you distract and frustrate your customers by asking them to complete forms with more information than you really need to provide your services or products. On the other hand, your sales people distract customers by trying to hard-sell them on other products, additional or more expensive. But, your sales people also sidetrack customers by getting too involved in small talk and overlook their primary goal of satisfying their customer’s needs.

Likewise, on the web, distractions occur when your web page attempts to make too many points or provide too much information when the customer wants to find a specific answer or product. Or, your website diverts and loses customers by introducing too many advertisements associated with other products for which the customer has no interest.

Basically, the lesson is simple. Keep focused on your customer’s needs and minimize the distractions which you control. Your customers will appreciate the lack of distractions, and your sales will be more efficient.

One way to make your customers remember your store, regardless of whether your store is brick and mortar, on the web or both, is to welcome your customers warmly into your store. But, it’s not enough to just welcome them; you must follow through with a pleasing shopping experience.

Let’s review a real-life example:

One of the larger telecommunications companies has both physical stores and online shopping. We visited a store to examine and compare the latest telephones and their capabilities before making a purchase.

We were greeted as we entered the store with a pleasant “Hello, how are you? Can we help you?” before we began looking at the various devices. Initially, we wanted to do some hands-on reviews of the available products on our own. Therefore, we replied, “We’re just looking right now.”

As we touched and tried the various telephones, we began to have questions. Since we visited the store at a non-peak time, the store had fewer customers than employees. But, the employees were more interested in discussing their personal lives with each other rather than helping us.

After a frustrating few minutes of attempting to get an employee’s attention, we gave up and left the store. The store’s employees did not understand the value of following up with their customers who are “just looking.”

In retail, when a customer says, “we’re just looking,” it means leave them alone to look at their own pace. But, it doesn’t mean leave them alone for their whole visit to your store – especially if your products generate a lot of questions.

The key to good salesmanship and a good customer experience is knowing when to follow-up with your “just looking” customers to help them yet not be constantly hovering and making them uncomfortable.

This same philosophy works in both the physical store and in the online shopping experience. An online customer spends much of their time pulling the information they want from your website. Based on their browsing, your site should offer suggestions or provide additional information to aid them during their visit.

Be careful, though, if your information does not apply to their interests or is too intrusive (for example, pop-over windows that won’t go away), the result can be an irritated customer who takes their business elsewhere.

The main objective is to treat your customers with respect and kindness while they visit your physical store or website. People remember kindness and consideration long after they leave. Greet your customers warmly when they enter, respect their shopping preferences and help them when you can, then show your appreciation for their time – regardless of a purchase or not – when they leave.

Lessons can be learned from stories. At this time of year, many messages provide the lesson of giving.

The following story of a Country Christmas was recieved in an email. Unfortunately, the original author’s information was missing. With thanks to the original author, enjoy the story and the message.

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A Country Christmas

“Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.

It was Christmas Eve. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn’t been enough money to buy me the rifle that I’d wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn’t in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn’t get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn’t figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn’t worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity.

Soon Pa came back in.. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. “Come on, Matt,” he said. “Bundle up good, it’s cold out tonight.” I was really upset then. Not only wasn’t I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We’d already done all the chores, and I couldn’t think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one’s feet when he’d told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn’t know what.

Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn’t going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn’t happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. “I think we’ll put on the high sideboards,” he said. “Here, help me.” The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood – the wood I’d spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. “Pa,” I asked, “what are you doing?”

“You been by the Widow Jensen’s lately?” he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I’d been by, but so what?

Yeah,” I said, “Why?”

“I rode by just today,” Pa said. “Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They’re out of wood, Matt.”

That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand.

“What’s in the little sack?” I asked.

“Shoes, they’re out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a little candy.”

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen’s pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn’t have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn’t have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn’t have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked.. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, “Who is it?”

“Lucas Miles, Ma’am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?”

Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

“We brought you a few things, Ma’am,” Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children – sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn’t come out.

“We brought a load of wood too, Ma’am,” Pa said. He turned to me and said, “Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let’s get that fire up to size and heat this place up.”

I wasn’t the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn’t speak. My heart swelled within me and a joy that I’d never known before filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone’s spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn’t crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. “God bless you,” she said. “I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us.”

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I’d never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.

Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.

Tears were running down Widow Jensen’s face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn’t want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.

At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, “The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We’ll be by to get you about eleven. It’ll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn’t been little for quite a spell.” I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.

Widow Jensen nodded and said, “Thank you, Brother Miles. I don’t have to say, May the Lord bless you; I know for certain that He will.”

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn’t even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, “Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn’t have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand.”

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen’s face and the radiant smiles of her three children.

For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.”

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours.

As individuals and as business people, we can learn from our pets. They know what they want, and they pursue their desires tenaciously. Their needs are not that much different from their human friends. They want food, warmth, safety, attention and fun.

If we clearly identified what we want and focused our efforts as our pets do, we could successfully achieve our goals.

Take a few moments out of your busy day and just observe your pets and how they achieve what they want. If you don’t have pets, look at the wildlife around you – the birds, squirrels and other animals.

Sometimes animals violate the rules of our space in their quest for what they want. For example, a squirrel wants a warm nest in your attic. You try various deterrents, but their tenacity continues. Even when you think you’re successful, they change their tactics to a weaker spot and still achieve their goals.

Our pets can be destructive too, if we are not firm and consistent with our training. We just have to remember their needs and make sure they are satisfied within our human boundaries. But, if we do not correct their behaviors, their efforts will succeed in gaining their goal regardless of damage to human property.

Once again, pets and animals offer a lesson to us. We should approach our goals with tenacity within the human boundaries of law, morality, kindness and common sense. Even with boundaries, enough focused effort yields success. The more focus we apply the faster we acquire what we want.

As the New Year approaches, we have the opportunity to revisit our goals, make sure they represent what we want most and identify how we should focus our efforts.

Watch and learn from the pets and animals. They approach their goals with almost single-minded attention. Provided they are not controlled in some way, the animals will accomplish their objectives through their tenacity.

Attributed to various sources, the saying “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” offers a valuable lesson to businesses.

Management studies show that keeping an existing customer (a bird in the hand) is much cheaper and easier than bringing in new business (two in the bush). In some cases, the cost of getting a new customer equals three to five or more times as much as the cost to keep a customer.

In this case, the costs of keeping an existing customer equate to any operating expenses for any communications and maintenance required while they continue to buy the products and services. On the other hand, gaining new business requires resources to sell, negotiate and win new customers. In the process, working to win new business yet losing to a competitor costs the company time, effort, revenue and operating expense.

Sometimes, businesses lose customers due to changes in strategic direction and the phasing out of certain products that do not provide sufficient profit. Even in those situations, keeping existing customers should be a priority either grandfathered on the old products or transitioned to the most comparable newer services.

When changing product sets, businesses will incur some increase in costs to grandfather an existing customer’s arrangement. This increased cost should be compared to the cost of obtaining new customers rather than just viewed as an increase in operating expenses.

In a recent scenario, a hotel’s event staff refused to renew a twelve-month contract for a customer’s monthly event. For their reasoning, they explained their general manager wanted to solicit a more lucrative business.

This customer’s event occurred on one Sunday per month and had been at this hotel for over two years. Throughout their history with this hotel, the hotel’s other Sunday business was very light.

Though the customer did not provide the hotel with many room rentals, they did use the hotel’s food service.

But, rather than keep a known customer who wanted to continue business with them, the hotel preferred to gamble that they can win other business. In tough economic times and in an area with many nearby hotels as competition, their customer approach negates common sense.

As an alternative, the hotel did offer their customer a three-month contract at a 30% rate hike. Knowing their customer needed a twelve month contract, it seems their offer was an afterthought.

Though, interestingly, the event management told their customer they were working on the next year’s contract then proceeded not to take any calls from the customer. (Caller ID can be problematic.) As recourse and being local to the hotel, the customer drove to the hotel to ask the event management in person about the contract. Only when challenged face-to-face did the event staff tell the customer of their plans to solicit other customers and offer the three month contract at the much higher rates.

Now, the customer wonders if the event staff chose to delay their response until the customer had to accept their unsatisfactory alternatives.

Had the hotel offered a twelve-month contract with a slight increase in rates, the customer would have accepted the terms. As it is, the customer refused their offer and is looking elsewhere.

From other sources in the hospitality business, this hotel is known as a poor performing hotel. Considering that it has an excellent location, perhaps the hotel’s management needs to review its business approach.

Two main lessons can be learned. First, treat your customers with respect. Second, consider how much easier it is to keep a customer (bird in the hand) who wants to do business with you in comparison to how difficult it is to gain new customers (two birds in the bush) in a tough economic and competitive market.

In business and our personal lives, we frequently focus on our problems and not all of the things, people and opportunities for which we should be grateful and appreciate every day.

For this year’s Thanksgiving holiday, a couple of quotes help remind us:

Socrates:  “If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be content to take their own and depart.”

Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss): “It’s a troublesome world. All the people who’re in it are troubled with troubles almost every minute. You ought to be thankful, a whole heaping lot, for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!

“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.”

Even with all of our problems, we can be thankful for our family, our friends, our “stuff,” our talents, and even our challenges.

Perhaps we can’t all have the Pollyanna attitude every day, but we should be grateful for both the small and the large riches in our lives.

May you and yours have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday with gratitude.

In today’s world of computers and the internet, every business needs to have a presence on the web. Businesses, whether selling services, products or both, need to announce their goods to their marketplace via their own web site or as an entry on relevant reference web sites.

Some successful companies have difficulty adding a web presence to their business. They started their company as a brick and mortar operation, grew the business and gained a healthy portion of their market for many years. Now, they find their business is losing customers to the ease of buying on the internet. Plus, their competition is frequently no longer local. It can be national or from around the world.

Though difficult for them to change, these businesses build their web presence and begin selling their products in their online store. Then, they’re surprised when their online store isn’t as successful as their brick and mortar business.

In their haste to build, stock and operate their online enterprise, they forget that orders online are generated by customers – ordinary people who expect to be treated courteously and respectfully as if they were in an actual store.

Frequently, the online store is built by people who understand the technology of the software and databases to run the web store, but these tech savvy people do not understand what the customer in the particular market expects with their shopping experience.

Unfortunately, this can hurt the business especially if they encourage their loyal brick and mortar customers to shop in their web store. If these customers encounter a difficult and non-intuitive experience on the web site, they easily become frustrated.

Furthermore, if these same customers, who have been loyal for years, submit a trouble ticket to the online help system and their concerns are dismissed by the tech savvy support staff, the customers will find easier and friendlier competitive sites to shop.

Now, let’s take this into a real world example…

A florist in the area built a successful business based on their innovative designs and their pleasant and responsive support staff. Over many years, they expanded to include several brick and mortar florist shops around the area, but they did not expand into the web market when other local and national floral businesses did.

A couple of years ago they first introduced their web store after losing market share to other florists, locally and nationally. They found their business had lost its competitive advantage and needed the internet store to survive. They promoted their web store to longtime customers, but their web site included navigation and operation issues.

To be helpful, the floral site had buttons to click for submitting suggestions and problems to their tech savvy web designers. But, when customers submitted problems online, they did not receive the same type of pleasant, helpful and responsive support to which they had become accustomed with the floral business.

In fact, the tech savvy gurus became defensive when challenged about the online floral store’s operating procedures. Their defensive response included telling the customers they were wrong in the steps they performed during their shopping experience.

Whether the customer made mistakes or not, they could not make a purchase. In their defensiveness, the tech support provided no resolution to the shopper’s experience. The good news is the customer’s credit card did not show a purchase with this florist, and to meet their immediate need for a floral arrangement, they went to another florist.

The floral business lost a sale, but they also lost a customer. The customer (me) has never been back to this florist as either an online shopper or as a brick and mortar shopper.

Business people learn a lot about what not to do from their own bad experiences as a customer of other businesses. You, too, can learn from this experience. Always be courteous, pleasant and responsive to your customers whether you are communicating with them face-to-face, on the telephone or via your web site.

Three quotes struck a chord today. Perhaps you, too, will find a kernel of truth in these wise words.

“We are all self-made, but only the successful will admit it.” – Anonymous

“As long as you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, then you are going to keep on getting what you’ve been getting. If you don’t like what you’ve been getting, then you’ve got to change what you’ve been doing.”  – Zig Ziglar

“If you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done.” – Mike Murdock

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, duh.” They do seem both simple and obvious, but read them again and again.

They may be simple, but they also provide profound insight into the fundamentals of advancing toward what you want most out of life.

Though many people try to blame other people or circumstances for their position in life, every individual is responsible for their own situation. Yes, rare exceptions occur, generally either criminal or forces of nature, but in most cases, each individual and their decisions directly determine their situation.

For day to day living, each person makes many choices. Frequently, people choose to do what they want to do rather than doing what they need to do to influence the positive changes they want in their lives.

They may want a better job or career, or they could want to improve their personal relationships with family, friends and significant people in their lives.

But, as they do what they want to do, they forget that to influence change around them, they must first change what they are doing.

Many people fear change. If you are one of those, you must become willing to change your attitude along with your actions in order to get what you want.

Some people embrace change. They get tired or bored with their circumstances and make changes in their lives. But, in a lot of cases, the change they make is mostly in their surroundings and not toward advancement to what they want. If you are one of these, you need to consider what you want in your life and make sure the next change you instigate supports your goals.

Whether you fear or embrace change, making the necessary adjustments to improve your life can be difficult. Take small steps at first, then as you advance and become more confident, you can implement larger changes.

Before the first step toward change, revisit your goals, both short and long term, and decide if they are still represent your desires. If so, next, determine what small effort you can begin doing every day to advance you toward what you want most.  Given time, you can make bigger changes.

If you have what you want most in life, personally and professionally, you’ve earned congratulations. If, like the most of us, you still have goals and dreams not yet realized, then begin making those changes in your efforts, small at first then larger.

Regardless of your circumstances, you can make improvements in your life.

The old adage says, “The customer is always right.” Similarly, in any service industry, the businesses and their employees should always be alert and respectful to their customers’ needs. When they become disrespectful, the business fails. The failure can be limited to a few customers, but too much disrespect can permeate all of the employees’ attitudes and ultimately destroy the company from within.

In one problem area for service businesses, some employees become enamored of their own importance.

Some gain their feelings of “importance” through promotions and added responsibilities, forgetting that their good performance and their satisfied customers were the reasons behind their upward mobility in the business. They use their position to impress their co-workers and their customers of their importance rather than focusing on their customers’ needs.

Other service employees feel self-importance because they have “power” over their customers. This “power” can be through knowledge, control or both.

When service industries provide information to customers, the service employees should be knowledgeable and know more than the customer who contacts them for assistance. Rather than being pleasant and helpful, some self-important employees intimidate their customers by talking in industry jargon and failing to address the problem in a way the customer can understand.

Or, in the case of medical service personnel, they feel powerful because of the control they wield over their customers (i.e., patients). Rather than being alert and respectful of their customers’ needs, these medical personnel feed their feelings of self-importance by manipulating their customers. They forget that a customer in their care has significant problems and does not need the added stress of their manipulative efforts. In particular, they need to insure their efforts do not significantly increase the customer’s problems.

Regardless of how or why, self-important employees cause havoc in the workplace with their “I’m-better-than-you” attitudes. Other employees feel antagonism and dislike which can damage morale and work effort.

Likewise, customers perceive a self-important employee as being disrespectful which results in problems for the business.

Pure service businesses can be stressful for the employees especially since their personal needs and egos must be suppressed to address the customers’ requirements. Because of this, management must find ways to encourage and reward their employees. The employees need to feel appreciation and self-confidence without also feeling the detrimental self-importance.

 Even though the old adage of the customer always being right can sometimes be an overwhelming challenge, service businesses must insure that all of their employees show respect to all of their customers and make them feel important and satisfied.