The Way Down

I found this the other day on the Quotations Page and thought it was well worth passing on:

Letting your customers set your standards is a dangerous game, because the race to the bottom is pretty easy to win. Setting your own standards--and living up to them--is a better way to profit. Not to mention a better way to make your day worth all the effort you put into it.
Seth Godin, Seth Godin's Blog, 07-28-06
Found on the Quotations Page

It raised the questions of:

• Who drives your bus?
• Who sets your agenda?
• Whose values motivate you to do your job?
• And if you are not giving the customers what they want, will you maintain your business?
• What about "The Customer is Always Right"?

Well, is the customer right if they want you to do something that is unethical or even legally questionable? The answer is obviously, "No." The customer may get what they want, but they have abused or misused you to get it. Is the customer right if, in reality what they want is not what they really want? That's a tougher question, but goes back to the ethical responsibility of those being asked to provide it.

Where it can get even stickier is when we are dealing with the service and non-profit sectors- such as counseling centers and churches. In these situations the customer may always be right, but we might not be willing or able to provide what they think they want. For example, a person walks in for an assessment and denies that they are an alcoholic. However, all the signs and symptoms point that way. I would certainly not agree with the client (customer) wanting me to say they have no problem.

Or sometimes they only want to come once a week and our program is three times per week. Is the customer right? Sure. But not for us. How about having only a short-time to get their work done. Especially since they have put it off and put it off and now the legal requirements are breathing down their neck. Should the treatment program change its standards to give the person a break? Remember that we are dealing with alcoholics and addicts who make a career out of manipulating situations to their benefit. Is the customer always right?

Or what about a congregation in a denomination that has a long history (say since it was founded) of infant baptism. Along comes a new person who doesn't believe that infant baptism is correct and may even be heretical. They make a big fuss about it in the congregation and insist that the church must stand up for what is correct and turn away from infant baptism. Is the customer right? Perhaps. But not for that congregation or denomination.

Being wishy-washy, letting the customers set your standards without any regard to history, ethics, quality and the like is, as Seth Godin says, a sure way to win the race to the bottom. The way to stay "on top" is to set your own standards, based on your best practices, your ethics, your theology, your own world perspective, the law and so on. Set them high. Then live up to them. Maintain your integrity.
Yes, you may lose some customers. You will lose the clients you really don't need or want because they will never be satisfied. You will lose some church members or potential members who should be looking somewhere else. It is okay to say that. In fact, it is better than okay.

Is it possible to set them too high? I would think so. Especially if you narrow what is right to such a thin path. It is possible to set them so high- and so rigid- that you can't make any decisions that help people. But if you maintain that honesty and internal concurrence of belief and action, you will probably end up better in the long run.

If not, is it really worth compromising your standards (as long as they are realistic) to the winds of change?