The Customer Is Rarely Right

One of the most common clichés in business is “The customer is always right.” It’s a staple of books and training seminars on sales, marketing, and customer service.

And it’s dead wrong.

While today’s buyers certainly have access to more information than ever before, there are still plenty of things they typically don’t know, and thus can be wrong about. These include:

• What questions to ask
• The costs that go into producing a product or service
• What they really need versus what they think they need
• The meaning of industry terms
• What makes one product or service better than another
• Hidden costs, fees, and taxes
• Risks
• How appropriate something is for their particular situation
• Maintenance needs and costs
• Why buying a cheaper option can be terrible
• How to properly use their new product or service
• The future
• What they don’t know

Add to this all the biases, prejudices, misinformation, rumors, myths, and urban legends rattling around in the average person’s head, and it’s no wonder so many prospects have difficulty making buying decisions.

That’s what buyers need you for. To clear them of their misconceptions, help them figure out which options are best for them, and ensure they have a positive ownership experience.

It’s also why you need to begin your selling process by asking lots of questions and listening carefully to the answers. So you can discover what they know and what they only think they know. It’s the latter than can cost you the sale. Only when you uncover the gaps and inaccuracies in your prospect’s knowledge can you help them overcome them. That way you can both be right.