Who Pays Our Wages?

These words by Mahatma Gandhi are logical and true, yet seem to be such a difficult concept for many to grasp.

We can go about our days, starting and finishing work without giving so much as a thought to who actually pays our wages.

For many, we believe it is our employer and in the direct sense, this is true.  However our employer paying our wages weekly, fortnightly, monthly - whatever the case may be - is only one link in a chain of events.  A chain that we as the employee are an integral part of.  And so is the customer.

Why then is the customer often treated with no regard, respect or value?  

After all, a business would not be a business without them.  Indeed, many ideas only become a fully fledged business once customers are on board.  

But is it customers who make or break a business?  Or our treatment of them?

We live in a world where competition is a reality.  It is ignorant to think our customers do not have choice.

By having a product that meets their wants or needs will gain us a customer.  Treating them well will allow us to gain their loyalty.

If you think about it, it all comes down to communication.

Customer service is communication.  And there are countless ways we can communicate with our customers.  I'm not just talking about emails, phone calls or face to face.  I will be going through various ways to up the ante on our customer service levels in upcoming posts.

What truly matters is that the discipline we give to our service levels needs to be as automatic as getting dressed in the morning.  We must always remember how important the customer is and treat them as such.  This even goes for those customers who fail to offer a reciprocated level of respect in return.  More on how to deal with that later.

For now, regardless of our position in the company, even if we own it, we should never forget who really pays our wages.

Photo credit: aubis.com.au