Why customers are kings!
The media and indeed the internet was on fire last week on account of the incidence with United Airlines in the US; where a paying passenger was rough handled and taken off a flight because the flight was overbooked and they needed space for some traveling staff members.
Having watched the video, I’m yet to reconcile what happened with what is expected of any brand whether in a developed country or the not so developed ones. It contravenes every known marketing or corporate ethics and the initial response from the CEO of United only exacerbate an already charged situation; this has been termed an absolute PR disaster.
Common logic indicates that the customer should have been given priority over and above any staff and another arrangement made for their staff. Don’t we all know that customer is king and that they are “always right”? More so when a customer has committed their money in anticipation of receiving an expected service.
As unbelievable and extreme as the situation appears, it brings to fore the reality that increasingly customers/consumers are getting much less than they deserve from companies and brands. It becomes more frustrating when the companies act as if they are actually doing you a favour in their service delivery.
Why should customers be deprived of their status as king? How should customers really be treated? It is necessary to reiterate why customers are kings:
• Customers ensure the existence of the company: Customers should always come first! When this order is not followed, it will only bring chaos and unmet expectations. The continued existence of a company depends on customers’ patronage. In other words, if there is no customer, there will be no business and definitely members of staff will be non-existent! It’s no gainsaying that customers can determine the career of company executives if care is not taken.
• Customers’ perception is true: Irrespective of whether the customer is right or not, their words hold so much power. Whatever perception they have of any brand or company can be transferred to other people which may either be positive or negative. In this age of digital/social media, it doesn’t take long before a story reaches millions of people as in the case of United Airlines. The same way customers can run a company down is the same way they can drive the business through positive word of mouth and referrals.
• It is cheaper to retain a customer than gain new ones: it is said that easiest way to sustain your business is to retain your customers. It could take months to gain new customers but it takes seconds to lose them! Keeping your current customers happy should be the focus of any company that is serious about building an enduring brand. Happy customers will recommend the company/brand to others which will result in expansion. It is said that it may cost four to ten times more to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one.
What could United Airline have done differently and what can we learn from this? There has been arguments about why they did what they did and what the company policy has to do with it. My view is this – they did not put their customer first and their policy is too business focused rather than customer focused. Every front facing organization must execute a customer driven strategy where the company is built around their customer and what value they can add to them.
Every customer deserves to be treated with respect; and the organization need to know that they are an integral part of the business and should be treated as such. In the current age, customers are beginning to demand for their right; and when they don’t get it, they will simply move on to another brand; but not without spreading the word about how they have been let down!
The moral of this, treat your customers like kings; else it will come back to haunt you!
Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi