The data knows if the customer is always right

“The customer is always right” is a phrase we all grew up with. But anyone with a retail past or present knows this isn’t nearly true. What it was, before the digital age, was an easy way to teach employees the right mindset — the right starting point for customer service to begin. But customers aren’t always right.

Firing a customer

My college job in an Upstate New York ski shop was an eye-opening experience. There were great customers who were pleasant people and there were people who couldn’t be pleased. One such customer returned skis for sketchy reasons multiple times, loudly saying, “This is unacceptable” before the manager politely said, “Sir, I am going to ask you to please buy your ski gear elsewhere.” We cheered and high-fived after the indignant man left the building. It was a small shop and we knew each customer’s behavior.

In another, larger ski shop in Washington, DC, an upset, more anonymous customer would say, “Do you know how much I spend here?” They didn’t realize we could look it up and answer that question very quickly. When the number was small, it made for an interesting and quick de-escalation.

Taxi!

We’re miles beyond both of those situations. In a data-infused world, we can earn a reputation as a customer just as easily as a business earns a reputation as a seller. Uber drivers, in fact, rate every customer that uses their service, offering their people an opportunity to choose a customer based on their past reputation. Sure, sometimes they’ll take a far because there’s no other business, but imagine rush hour where cabs are scarce. A customer with a history of being pleasant to serve stands a much better chance of getting a ride.

There is transparency coming in how we spend and how we treat each other. Lots of data means there are fewer places for jerks to hide and I’m all for that.

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Christopher Taylor