Today we dethrone the King. Down comes the crown, down comes
the royal gown of velvet and soft felt and down comes the red carpet runway.
Today we dethrone the King. Down comes the headdress of finely picked plumes, down
comes the cloak of vervet monkey fur and down comes the floor mat of
intricately woven reed.
But why oh why must the King be dethroned? Why are all the
instruments of power, glory and dominance going going gone….reminiscent of the
first pummel of the auctioneer’s gavel?
And the answer’s simple – because the time has come. The
time has come to debunk the old adage that Customer Is King. And as with all
things in life, change is inevitable. Today we graduate from what we've known
best and move on to the next level.
Let’s look a little bit at this King business shall we? What
happens around the King? Here are a few typical activities:-
- All subjects bow down and prostrate themselves in awe and honour
- The King is a dictator, decreeing stuff left right and center
- All communication to the King is by carefully selected proxies
- The King’s word is unquestionable, unchallengeable, un-bendable. It is law
- The King is surrounded by a ring of protectors in their suits of armour
- There’s carefully orchestrated distance between the King and everybody else.
So with this in mind, is this really the desirable position
of the customer today? Does this adequately describe the ideal
customer-supplier relationship? It all sounds archaic doesn't it? Like it
should be enshrouded in a time warp and spun back to the medieval era where it
nicely belongs right?
Can we therefore shrug off this cloak of royalty and declare
that from today The Customer is a Friend? Yes a Friend. And in the spirit of
the already started discussion let’s list a few typical activities around a
friend:-
- They are greeted very warmly on sight
- They have an emotional connection and have a special place at heart
- They are treated with respect and dignity
- Their needs are well understood, tapped into and met at all levels.
- Their feedback is genuinely sought and treated with importance.
- When things to awry, acknowledgement of failure is done with a promise to rectify the error and immediately improve.
So……. Do you agree with me that Down Comes The King and Up
Goes The Friend?
If so, then from this day forwards the 'Customer is Friend' and we get down to work to convert all the King’s subjects to fast friends. Quite a task lies
ahead yes?
Absolutely true. Kingship is tyranny. Friendship is warmth and willingness!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes, when service providers get that the customer is indeed a friend, then that disdain that we see leveled at customers far too often will begin to be a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary. The customer still remains King. When a company first opens it's doors, it bows down to the king because it understands that the king's satisfaction is paramount to the success of the kingdom (market share). The sales and marketing team (subjects) work day and night to understand the psychology of the king to make sure that what they are presenting to the king is something that will blow the king's mind. Failure to do so will soon be evident through the finance and accounting team (subjects)as they scramble to find out why the king has his eye on someone else (competition) as he is wooed away. A friend is someone who comes to see you if you are not well. A friend is someone who gives you a second, third and fourth chance. Once a customer is dissatisfied, they do not behave as a friend but are quick to move to greener pastures. It is at this moment that we quickly realize that for the sake of the kingdom (market share) and for the success of the company, it is paramount that we recognize the king's title and hail the king as king and bury the idea of friend. A king will never allow his title to be a casual one as power (feeling important) is important to him.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmmmm........ very interesting angle you bring up. Of paramount importance is to maintain a binding emotional attachment to our customers. In a way that the supplier views the customer as family and vice versa. Where in times of ups and downs the supplier and customer will stand by 'family' through thick and thin. The emotional attachment to Royalty may not weather this storm. The element of 'fear' reigns supreme in a Kingdom environment. Possibly a melange of the two may be considered = wooing in the customer by providing Royal service as they step in, and being their firm and fast friend thereafter for the sustained long haul.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do understand the benefits associated with friendships and those are indeed necessary in building long term relationships, at the heart of it, I see the relationship of friendship, more as a necessary stepping stone to the final destination of kingship. Why do I say this? Because any business out there exists for one purpose only and that is to serve the customer and by doing this well, maximized profits are realized. Customers do not exist to serve the business. This becomes very evident where stiff competition comes into play.
ReplyDeleteSo from my point of view, I believe businesses that elevate a "friendly" relationship with their customers to the status of a King and work at making sure that the customer always feels like a king, those businesses more often than not have an edge because where a customer is King, that is the highest "title" they can possibly hold. A customer who is treated like a friend will still enjoy that relationship, however one who is treated like a king will be the envy of even those customers treated like friends. I kindly maintain that we must continue to hail the customer as king.
Hey Milo, points well noted and the thread of thought well understood. Fast and friendly service has over time been touted as the magic key that unlocks continued patronage. Customers are drawn to places where they will be 'called by name' where the service giver will ask after their children, their health, their past, their victories, their celebrations, their woes. Where King status is at play, one isn't at liberty to make conversation of this sort. There have been reports of continued royal service providing a cloying effect for some customers. But as we say what works for one may not work for another, so where exclusive Kingship works and the customers are happy, it should continue and be maintained. Where friendship opens business doors, it should reign supreme. And where a combination of friendly Kingship or Kingly friendship works, we'll throw that in too for good measure :-)
ReplyDeleteBeen away but am now back, and still very much advocating for the Kingship of the customer. If I may narrow down the statement you made, "Customers are drawn to places where they will be called by name...will ask after their children, their health, their past, their victories, their celebrations, their woes."
ReplyDeleteIf I take your statement above and juxtapose it to the example of the recent blessing of a baby boy to the Royal Family of Kate & William, it goes to show the supremacy of the King. Everyone was very interested in finding out everything about the baby. The paparazzi were bending over backwards to make sure they were in the loop of all things baby.
That is the treatment being a King affords you. As a King you do not beg people to inquire of you, people automatically go out of their way to inquire of your well being, inquire about your style, inquire about your eating habits etc.
If you bring this Kingship treatment in the corporate world, you find that companies just like the paparazzi bend over backwards to appease the King by forming focus groups to find out what the King(customer) might like, they then invest millions of dollars to market and advertise to the King because they understand that the King will never come begging, the king is never at the beck and call of the subjects. It is the subjects who are at the beck and call of the king.
As a customer, given the choice to be treated as a friend or a King, I would quickly ask for my throne and crown. As a businesswoman, and for the sake of the prosperity of my business, it then behooves me to expel the notion my customer is a friend, and quickly crown him or her while walking them proudly to their throne, with plenteous accolades in the most friendly manner.
Hi Milo - good to hear from you. Welcome back:-)
ReplyDeleteI think we may need to agree to have variant opinions on this one for I have my concerns about the feelings of the Royal couple to have such intense fawning and attention immediately after going through a birthing process :-)
However, I am seriously inclined to believe we are highly likely saying the same thing in different words, for your constant postulation is that the customer should feel special and that the supplier needs to bend over backwards to ensure that. I agree with that school of thought completely.
And so whatever mechanism put in place to make the customer feel warm, loved, important and special, that works brilliantly and should be upheld.