The customer is not king, it’s Just an Emotionally Intelligent Statement Companies Use to acquire a Higher Bargaining Power

It’s often said that the customer is king. For many, this phrase rings true within the context with which it is being viewed. For instance, we all know that without the customer, there is no business. The customer is the reason for any product or service and so the customer may exercise this privilege to the extent that he derives satisfaction from whatever he purchases. In essence, the better we make our customers feel, the more likely they will return for more business. Whilst this may be true in many ways I beg to slightly differ.

“It is my strong belief and experience that the customer isn’t king but rather the customers need is king.” This I believe to be logically true to the extent that every customer behaves differently however the need remains the same.

Many a time organizations pay more attention to the customer at the expense of the reason that brought the customer to them in the first place. I once ate at a restaurant where the customer service representatives were superb but the meal was poorly cooked.

Let’s look at this another way, no matter how pissed a customer is with Google, how much of a chance does the customer really have in deciding not to use Google? Reason is simple, it fulfills a much desired need and there isn’t really much of a competitor available. 

 

One thing however is logically true in all these: It is he who holds the higher bargaining power that is king.

You see it’s all about bargaining power. How much bargaining power you have, equals how much attention you get. Why is it that some customers get treated better than others? It’s because business owners recognize that some customers are more critical to the success of their business than others. To this extent I do believe that the customer cannot be said to be king in a monopoly or even a duopoly. This is especially when such customers business does not make up a major percentage of the monopolist profits. How can a customer be king in a situation where the enterprise holds the bargaining power?

Saying that the customer is king is therefore a silly phrase we all use when there are so many people offering the same product/ service and we just want to make the customer feel good about patronizing us. Was the product created because of a particular customer or to suit a particular need?

Practically speaking, there is a vast difference between what you need and what you feel. When push comes to shove on Abraham Maslow’s theory, needs come first. In essence, appeal to the need first before the emotions. Now I am a huge proponent of Emotionalintelligence and I am not saying that how a customer feels isn’t important. It is a known fact that emotions can never really be separated from buying and emotions can affect customers need to buy.

All I am trying to say is this: It is a desired need that drives the necessary emotion to buy. Recognize the real reason why the customer is there to do business with you and fulfill that need 100%. Then use emotional intelligence to make the customer bound to you for life.