It is so important to learn from the past. To be able to see what might be with the greater clarity of what has come before.
The True Face – We can all agree that lessons of yonder should lead to making us stronger, more efficient and see with greater clarity. As it is said that a person becomes wise with age, so should the collective that is our society.
But has it?
Are we really any wiser?
Deep breath……. Has our society learned from what has been, and allowed for the changes brought about societal behaviour and the influence cast from what is, and then adapted accordingly, so that efficiency, honesty and fairness for all involved are held as pillars for who we are?
That’ll be a Big No!
Instead, we cling to the past. we hold on to an ideal, or ideals from a long gone era, a bygone age where everything seemed simpler and more glitzy. We choose to ignore the changes brought on by what came after and formed the modern patterns and personalities of our collective attitude.
One area that I find so very interesting, involves the way that the business world looks at the customer. We hold the customer in the highest regard, innocent and full of virtue, like freshly birthed calf. They wobble on on unfamiliar feet, trying to understand the seemingly impossible new world that stands in front of them. We take it upon ourselves to protect this vessel of holy light from anything that might fracture how they view this new world that is our business.
We have been doing this for so long that we have created the idea of something that is now seen as unquestionable.
We have created a box for the customer to fall into and relinquish all responsibility, allowed an entitlement to an elevated stature of importance brought about by a supposed vulnerability.
This “vulnerability” has given forth to an ignorance of all sense and sensibilities, of all knowledge of process, of any accountability on the side of the customer, of decorum, and of any understanding of professionalism except for that from the side of the business.
The fractured ego that is the modern customer, and the constant defence of and deflection from, simply makes the monster we have created, to grow in size and appetite.
Much of the time, the stance is to take what the customer says as read. A blind to all reason understanding that the customer is in charge, to see their needs be met, no matter the situation or the cost.
Our front line, customer facing staff however, see an altogether different face. One that is in stark contrast to that of the eyes closed pundit.
To the people who truly make a difference to our business, the customer is one of cunning. A character who strikes with venomous intent, whose nerve endings are raw and exposed, and actions are led by a thirst for aggravation.
Brought about through a century of coddling, this modern day predator is on the hunt for reparations, seen through cracks in performance, professionalism, and reduced stroking of the delicate already wilted self importance.
We put our people in harms way, giving them very little room for error, while clouding the crystal clear truth with the nonsense that may have been of yesteryear, but has now been washed away by the lofty status and enabled neediness.
The modern customer is killing the want to work with them.
The modern customer is costing your business more and more every year.
The modern customer and the “idea” of the customer also pushes every other role within our business out of phase.
The constant push for customer service excellence without arming ourselves with the facts of what & who we face, or what is in direct opposition to everything else we do.
Pushing what we know to be true to one side in favour of the pretence of ignorance, is damaging our culture as a whole.
The truth about the modern customer, is that we have built a tight framework to enable them carte blanch to do, or say whatever they see fit, whether they are in the right or not.
The True Face Of The Modern Customer – The True Face Of The Modern Customer – The True Face Of The Modern Customer – The True Face Of The Modern Customer – The True Face Of The Modern Customer –
More often than not, what is right, has been manufactured through these outdated panderings, and again goes against a semblance of reasonable behaviour upon common interaction.
The truth about the modern customer, is that they are desperately awaiting a time to wield the stick of justice, to hit anything and everything insight.
The truth about the modern customer, is that they are only too willing to abuse you, your colleagues, your staff and your business.
The truth about the modern customer, is that they are the monster that we have created and continue to feed.
Free from boundaries of consequence and reason, happy to cause damage and mayhem wherever they roam, and desperate for the added extra, whether that be an extra slice, extra time served, a pantomimed apology, the forced execution of a staff members role within the organisation, or the ruin of a companies good name when all else fails, the customer is something once only seen in horror movies.
Disguised as the everyday, average person, locked inside is an overtired tree year old, with hair bunches, a blue knee length wooden coat and red Ruthie T-strap shoes, hands sticky from the melted ice cream that is their miserable lives, and desperate to dump their frustrations onto everyone they feel inferior.
Im absolutely Fucking right……. I don’t normally swear in my blog posts, but I think it’s a justified punctuation!!
So…. What the hell are you going to do?
Well, as it is difficult to change this bias over night, we need to start look at ways to limit our exposure and bring accountability to the customer in a familiar and somewhat gentle manner.
The best option is to use Hindsight Rated.
Yes, it’s my software…. But it is incredible, both in its ease of use, and its overall power.
Just like the Uber and AirBnB internal customer rating platforms, except you can see ratings from every kind of business within the Hindsight Rated Community.
- Read ratings and comment on the customers behaviour as a customer.
- better understanding and enabling better decision making on how, or indeed, whether to work with them.
- Rate and receive ratings from your customers, as well an increased customer retention and word of mouth.
- Negative customer behaviour & employee turnover reduced on a parallel.
- Don’t just demand great customers, command great customers
Click here to download on your mobile device.
Mobile device ready, your Hindsight Rated app is always by your side.
If you’d like to speak directly to me about your Hindsight Rated app, or what we have spoken about here, please connect with me on LinkedIn through this link: Gavin Hesketh LinkedIn Connection
