WHEN DID IT BECOME SO BAD

I’m talking about the word “CUSTOMER”. It seems that more and more businesses are avoiding the word. I was recently standing in line at a department store and I hear one of the cashiers calling “next guest please". My first thought was “GUEST? I’m not your guest, I don’t charge my guests for things”. Frankly, I felt insulted that some executive thinks I’m stupid enough to fall for this BS. I’m sure the company probably hired an expert to analyze what word/title/reference customers would like to be called to make them feel more welcome. And I’m sure they’ve spent thousands of dollars on focus groups that participants showed up for a $25 gift card to tell them how the average sophisticated consumer is going to respond to whatever titles they had for customers. Or perhaps a genius marketing executive thought of this on their own and thought they were brilliant. Well, it had the opposite effect on me. I found it ingenious and insulting to my intelligence. It also got me thinking of hotels and restaurants calling their customers “GUESTS” again; I’m yet to meet a person that charges their guests for a meal or for staying over. Perhaps I’m out of touch with reality and should’ve been charging my guests for meals and overnight stays! Don’t think so.

By the way, all these businesses still preach how they strive for the “Customer Experience” and “Customer Satisfaction.”

Look, call me client, call me patron, but really, there's nothing wrong with CUSTOMER. Treat me right with respect and provide me with goods and services at a reasonable price. Provide me with the expertise to make a more intelligent choice in my purchase decision. Do that, and I’m a “CUSTOMER” for life. #customerexperience #customersatisfaction #marketing #retail