Chapter Eighteen - The Customer is Not Always Right! - William McCarthy, PhD

"We Wish We Had Known - Everyday Tips from Consultants to Grow Your Business"

#Customer Service
#Leadership

"The Customer is Not Always Right!"

WILLIAM MC CARTHY, PHD

Project Manager and Trade Compliance Adviser
linkedin.com/in/williamjmccarthyphd

Consultants need to delight our clients—to exceed their expectations. When a customer provides an implementation plan, we must first determine if it’s the right solution. 

     I was asked to lead a team redesigning a feedback system that aligned a critical component. This was a major project with a substantial budget and would likely raise the cost of the analyzer reducing margins in a price sensitive market. 

      The feedback worked like driver assist on an automobile that makes small movements on the steering wheel to keep the car in a lane. Occasionally (about once a day) the feedback loop would make a large unnecessary adjustment and become unstable. It would be as if the car suddenly swerved across two lanes.

      I asked to see the raw input. There were too many data points for Excel because the feedback system took thousands of measurements a second. 

      So I manually scrolled through the screens of data and noticed something unusual.

      The numbers ranged from 1-11 millivolts until suddenly a physically impossible reading like 60 billion volts would appear. It would be like that hypothetical driver assist was told that the car was two counties away. 

      Because the numbers were averaged it was impossible to see that the issue was a communication error and not a control problem without examining the raw input. The communication error was easily fixed with a simple electronic chip upgrade. My project was unnecessary. I provided a solution that put me out of a job. 

Always ask about the why before starting any project.

• Why is often more important than how.
• Get down to causes and conditions before jumping to conclusions. 
• Preparation is as important as execution.

The customer is not always right. No one is...including you!

• Be humble and respectful. 
• Do not talk down to a customer, but do not assume they have the whole picture.
• Remember they are asking for help. It is our job to give them the correct help.

The customer is not always the right customer.

• Be prepared to walk away if it is not a good fit.
• Have a list of consultants you can recommend. 
• Have confidence in your expertise.

WILLIAM MC CARTHY, PHD

William McCarthy uses his strong science background with particular expertise in business processes to provide project management, product marketing and trade compliance for technologically oriented companies. 

Trade compliance, the aspect of corporate compliance that ensures imports and exports conform with laws and regulations of all involved countries, can be especially complex for innovative technology companies. He translates between technical-oriented customers (engineers and scientists) and regulatory experts.