By Gary Jeffress

This month's guest post is by Gary Jeffress from The Maverick Project. As the name suggests Gary is on a mission to change the way people think about business and life. He offers business and life coaching services, is also a public speaker and presenter. To get in touch with Gary visit www.maverickcoaching.com.au

I had an interesting experience recently. After ordering a meal at a local leagues club, I went to a bar to purchase a lemon squash and a glass of wine. The wine list displayed the house wine which was De Bortoli Chardonnay - $3.50. I ordered this and a lemon squash. The bar attendant, went to the refrigerator, took out a bottle and poured a glass. With the lemon squash, it came to $8.70. This was more than I expected.

When I queried the amount she charged, she replied "You asked for De Bortoli Windy Peak Chardonnay didn't you?" I said that I had asked for the $3.50 house wine listed on the wine list. She was most annoyed. She grumpily explained that she had poured the more expensive and better one. She then put it aside and poured the correct wine which was "on tap".

Although I looked at the wine list as I asked for the order, I did not mention it was the $3.50 house special. I used the De Bortoli brand name instead, which was on the wine list. In customer service training programs, I will often discuss the notion that the customer is always right, but there are many variations.

Business owners are aware that "The right customer is always right"

What response should have been used by the attendant at the time?

Another example was when I had ordered a takeaway chicken meal with specific choices of the pieces I wanted in the pack of 2. The attendant refused and said they were specific pieces put into the packs and could not be changed. This I challenged and after some arguing and the young person not budging, I left unhappy. That person had a perceived win in the moment and stood his ground. And in this day of competition with everyone wanting to do better than the next person perhaps it was a smart move on his part.

Although in a take-home environment isn't everyone the "right" customer? What young people are not taught is that a "life-time" customer is paramount and businesses should be training their people with this view. I walked out of that situation saying I will never go back there again and telling all who would listen of my experiences. If you were the owner serving at the time, would you have treated me that way, given a desire to see the same people in your store as many times as possible is most important to you. If some flexibility was shown I would not be spending a painful $10 just once. I would be in your store possibly 20 times per year. If I only spent $10 how much would that be per year. If I lived in the area for 10 years how much would that mean to you? Then multiply it by the amount of customers that walk through your door daily.