I suspect that most of you filled in the blank with the word 'right'. That idea was drilled into our heads since we were kids. However, if you are a long time follower of my blog, I suspect that you are already questioning the words and looking for the catch. If so, good for you! Today I'm questioning the word 'customer' and that neither the customer or the business is right.
First step, lets be clear what a 'customer' is. The modern definition is what we mostly think a customer to be.
a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business. - dictionary.com
However, when I break out my 1958 Oxford Unabridged Dictionary, I find a very different definition.
1. A customary tenant. 2. One who collect customs; a custom-house officer. 3. One who customarily purchases anywhere; a buyer, purchaser (the chief current sense) 4. A person with whom one has dealings; a prostitute. 5. A person to have to do with; chap, fellow
The definition of that word has changed a LOT in 60 years, but the third definition seems to fit the best, though some could argue that the forth definition is more accurate. For a business, their primary objective is to find and hold onto customers. The business is absolutely dependent on customers and because of that, they will do almost anything to find and retain those customers. Marketing campaigns, psychological strategies, sexual bait and other protocols are used to draw the customer in. Their objective; create a dependency or even an addiction to enslave that individual and ensure he or she continues to be a customer for a life time.
We really need to be honest with ourselves. The modern customer is completely dependent upon the corporation for all of his / her needs, plus for all their wants and addictions. Since when does the individual know what they want? Often times the market tells them what they want. They don't even know what they need! The customer is a slave and the vast majority of them have no clue. The customer is not right and most of them are completely blind to their slavery. The business is not right either in that they too are slaves, completely dependent upon the consumer.
The moral and ethical dilemma here is when we recognize the violence associated with running a business in order to build dependency in other people. Are we so disconnected from our fellow brothers and sisters that we are willing to do this to them? Should we instead by focusing on strategies and protocols to ensure we all are free and independent?
Granted that this protocol is not conducive to business and perhaps it is an idea ready for a paradigm shift which would make it obsolete. When we recognize the violence associated with building customer dependencies, we have a duty to act upon it immediately. The challenge is that nearly everyone has no clue how to meet their own needs so that they are not dependent upon the jobs or products produced in a consumer based society. Their addictions and dependencies on jobs, cash and consumer products have a death grip on our hearts and minds that needs to be broken.
This process will take time and for many they are well on their way to removing those dependencies and finding balance, health and peace within their lives. It does require individual health in order to deal with the violence, addictions and slavery that has infiltrated our lives. If we can 'see' the violence within the business / customer relationship, then it will help bring awareness to just how invasive the corporate agenda has become in our lives.
There are people out there who dedicate their lives to finding ways to hook in people and make them addicted to their products and services. They don't care about people. They only care about profits, money, power and control. But make no mistake, their influence runs deep and it will take considerable effort to break their grip on our minds and hearts. They got you thinking you are free and the one in control. They got you thinking that you are always right, when in fact they run your life.
Time to UNGRIP and take that control back from those who wield it with violence and contempt. How? That is your choice. My wife and I have walked a path to do exactly that. Leading by example. How we did that is found within the posts of my blog. Recorded for as long as this blockchain exists!
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Synchronicity! Haha I just used the term "customer" in another comment about the people I plan on sharing my surplus farm produce with when I have it. And I felt wierd about it when I wrote it. The very next post addressed it. Too cool. So I guess I better call them partners. Trade partners. Or members. Members of reciprocity maybe. I'll hafta look up definitions.
Great piece. Personally, I think the word came from the word custom as in to imply a person would return over and over again. I've worked in retail and this always seemed like a question asked to you when you applied for a job. I always seemed to muttered something like "no, not exactly but with some effort and input one can make the customer believe they are always right." I can't think of the chain retail store that trained their employees to use code words when taking about customers nearby. They apparently used the word "guests" when talking about paying customers and used the word "customer" when they suspected one was stealing or trying to abuse their company policy. My experience is that corporations or companies always want to profit over everything else and possibly the person or company that came up with this used this as a marketing tactic to gain trust and do sell whatever they were selling.
I like the 4th incarnation of the the definition the best also and while its true that majority of customers today are dependent on corporations we also ( in most cases ) have more then one to choose from for our needs. Which then brings the customer is always right mentality to these corporations so they can retain our business.
I agree with you. You said exactly that a customer needs a business for a business. So while doing business, they go to customers and yes many times customers do not know what they have to say to bring them, but I agree with you I am a lot I know
this is something new to me...
learn some new to read it, thanks for sharing. Have a nice day
thank for share infomation sir......
what is good news? Your comment lacks insight, effort or intent. It is vague and easily can be seen as spam. You risk being flagged and your are not contributing to the value of this platform.
...thanks sir
Yet another spam post. Put some effort into this! Stop wasting peoples time!