"Football is two things. It's blocking and tackling. I don't care about formations or new offenses or tricks on defense. You block and tackle better than the team you're playing, you win." - Vince Lombardi
From Salesforce.com:
Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker and Marshall Field were three popularly known business men back in the 1900s. These three pioneering retailers believed the customer is a core aspect when it comes to entrepreneurship. In particular, Marshall (or Selfridge) has been credited as the person who first said "Right or wrong, the customer is always right" which ultimately became the most-popular phrase in customer service -- "The customer is always right". And in phrasing perhaps the most famous customer service quote of all-time, the businessmen set the tone and intent of customer service for decades to come.
The successful businessmen shared similar strengths; great dynamism, creativity and the innate ability to run a business efficiently and in a productive manner. The three great business leaders were not only early pioneers in retail, but were also early sources of important slogans that emphasized the importance of customer service.
As such, the quotes by the three entrepreneurs became some of the most famous customer service quotes of their time. Here’s twelve of our favourites:
- “The customer is always right.” As mentioned, this short five-word quote sums up the importance and necessity of the customer’s happiness over everything.
- “Assume that the customer is right until it is plain beyond all question he is not.” Those that regurgitate the first quote in every instance aren’t aware that Field also placed common sense restrictions on the catch-all phrase. Basically, go above and beyond to make the customer happy, but also be smart about it.
- “Give the lady what she wants.” Marshall Field coined the customer service-centric phrase “Give the lady what she wants” to impact on the importance of serving the customer. The phrase was famously used in his store to make the service staff put customer's needs and wants first.
- “Honesty always pays.” Selfridge’s more-famous quotes tended to focus less on the external and more toward the internal. This particular 3-worder was part of a larger quote, but we picked this out because it underlines the importance of how doing the right thing, having good values will always translate into good business (and good karma, presumably).
- “When a customer enters my store, forget me. He is king.” John Wanamaker is remembered most for this famous customer-driven quote, Wanamaker worked at Field’s store for more than 20 years, breathed and adopted the ideologies by Marshall Field on customer services.
- “People will sit up and take notice of you if you will sit up and take notice of what makes them sit up and take notice.” This is our favorite Harry Selfridge quote. This popular phrase playfully repeats a specific phrase so that it makes an intentional impact.
- “Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.” What Field is saying here is that tangible items and money are easily adjusted to bring customers into your store, but it’s the intangibles (e.g. goodwill, courtesy, respect, dignity) that make the difference.
- “Get the confidence of the public and you will have no difficulty in getting their patronage.” Focusing on the intangibles again, The first sentence of Harry Gordon Selfridge’s longer, oft-quoted thought on business invokes how critical it is for your company to have the trust and confidence of your customers. Once you have that, everything will fall into place.
- “Courtesy is the one coin you can never have too much of or be stingy with.” This well-known Wanamaker quote highlighted the constant dilemma with making customers happy -- money. Modern day companies struggle with customer service, prioritizing bottom lines and short term goals over customer experience.
- “Courtesies cannot be borrowed like snow shovels; you must have some of your own.” Wanamaker again with the emphasis on providing courtesy. In this famous quote, he points out that care and sincerity cannot be bought, underscoring that excellent customer service requires abstract qualities.
- “Treat [the customer] as guests when they come and when they go, whether or not they buy.” This Selfridge customer service quote challenges employees to treat all customers as equals; whether they walk out without buying anything or purchased $27 (or $1844 in today dollars).
War Story #2
In the mid-1990s, while at Packard Biosciences (formerly Packard Instruments), I was given additional responsibilities. Beyond my role as Senior Product Manager for Gamma Counters, I was tasked with leading the initiative to integrate a line of microplate readers into Packard's product offerings.
When I initially contacted key members of Packard's global sales team, their unanimous consensus was clear: Packard was synonymous with high-quality instrumentation. It was imperative that any new development uphold this reputation for excellence. This feedback was subsequently shared with, and agreed to by, senior management.
I found a team of engineers in Silicon Valley who had recently left a competitor to independently develop next-generation microplate instruments. Our first meeting was rocky; they viewed Packard as a company that "screwed their suppliers." I assured them (truthfully) that I had heard no such thing and, with the full backing and authority of senior management to launch this program, I personally guaranteed that we would honor any contract we signed.
A development agreement was signed after the Packard engineering team’s favorable report to Packard’s president, following their facility inspection in California. Performance benchmarks were clearly defined and mutually agreed upon. The second milestone, upon achievement, would trigger a $50,000 funding allocation from Packard for the work required to reach it.
The California engineering team had reached the milestone and submitted proof of system compliance, enabling them to proceed to the third milestone upon payment.
I reported this result, along with the engineering documents, to the President's office. I was informed that he had "changed his mind" and discovered another company with microplate instruments looking to exit the business. Packard could acquire their product line for a fraction of the cost of developing a new one, and he would not authorize payment to the California team. I was instructed to fly there and deliver the news in person.
Research quickly revealed why the seller was divesting the product line: it was two generations behind, had captured less than 1% market share in its five years on the market, and relied on an obsolete chipset.
This week's question is: If you found yourself in this situation, what would you do? Conclusion to this story will be in the next post.
