Is the customer really the King?

Every orientation in any organisation and every marketing guru focuses on a solo aspect that customer is king.That is what all of us have learnt throughout our management education or as part of our job descriptions. We have all been conditioned to believe that customer satisfaction is of utmost importance, be it a sales driven organisation or a service sector company. Everyone works on this one concept that customer comes first. We all work to make the customer happy.

Then, whom do we work for? The customer? Think again.

When asked “where do you work?”, we might proudly tell everyone that we work for some organisation or the other. Quite a few might also mention that they work for a certain person. Otherwise, “I work for Google” or “I work for Sunder Pichai”. Then what about the customer?

Whom should we really work for? 

We should work for ourselves and work with an organisation and with our boss. We must work only and only for one person and that is ourselves. If we work for ourselves, we would do everything that would be in our best interest. Customer’s happiness is in our best interest, our boss’s happiness is in our best interest and our company’s growth is in our best interest. So, when we work for ourselves, customer’s happiness becomes a byproduct.

So, how exactly would this happen when we think of the best for ourselves?

To bring some clarity to the above, I would like to illustrate with an example: As a sales person, what should we focus on to give our best performance?
– to sell more?
– to satisfy our customer?
– to make our boss happy?

Well, the answer is –  None of the above. All the above accomplishments are based on results. Results that we have no control over. We may have put in all the efforts possible and still might not be able to achieve the desired results. 

So, what should our focus be on?

Our focus should be on our effort. Effort is always under our control.
– make more calls
– offer the best possible deal
– provide the best possible service
In other words, make our best pitch.

When we focus on our effort and work for ourselves we carry with us a sense of accomplishment each and everyday and that sure should make one feel like a king. So, are the customers really the king or are we? Perhaps, it is time to think of a third perspective.