Being self-employed, I realize the importance of a customer. Recently, I was in a situation where the customer service I received was appalling. First the person who was waiting on me made me feel like I was taking time from their day. They didn't seem to have any real concern for the situation I needed help with. While explaining my situation to them, their phone rang and they immediately picked up the phone without so much as an "excuse me". To make a long story short, my situation is still not resolved. I left the store vowing never to shop there again.
A couple of days later I saw the following on a poster and I thought whoever wrote this truly understood the importance of a customer:
A customer is the most important person in any business
A customer is not dependent upon us. We are dependent upon him.
A customer is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it.
A customer does us a favour when he comes in. We aren't doing him a favour by waiting on him.
A customer is an essential part of our business, not an outsider.
A customer is not just money in the cash register. He is a human being with feelings and deserves to be treated with respect.
A customer is a person who comes to us with his needs and his wants. It is our job to fill them.
A customer deserves the most courteous attention we can give him.
He is the lifeblood of this and every business.
He pays our salary.
Without the customer we would have to close up.
Don't ever forget it.
What does this have to do with motivation or inspiration? A lot because how we deal with others is more a reflection of how we demonstrate our inner worth than the actual application of a business. A reflection of our inner self through great customer service means we give value to others because we value our own values; these values also mean that we care about service to others where the adage what we give we receive comes into full force.
Remember this: the more we demonstrate our much we care in the service to others also reflects how much we think about our own values and ethics. And, in direct application to a business, it doesn't matter what position you hold, without your customers you would have no job, no business. I would encourage you to print a copy of this and share it with others who deal directly with customers. Sometimes in business, we get hung up on inventory, business results, and other trivial matters. If we want to improve our business, we should first improve our customer service by simply asking ourselves if our service to others is what we would want if we traded places. You are who you are in every situation whether that be in a job or at home with your own family.
