Very few thinkers and strategists have written on this topic as a result the industry has missed out on many key practical insights (real-world ones not those written in books and displayed on fancy slides). I am sharing few thoughts based on my learning and experiences. Hope it resonates and connects with you as these are written from a very practical vantage point.

Role as a Service Provider

Being a part of the service industry , we always treat the customers as God and would say that " Customer is Always Right " though we know that many a times they come up with unreasonable demands which are hard to deliver . We not only have to keep the customers happy but also have to go the extra mile to add value to the projects/process through incremental improvements. Sometimes it is really difficult to convince a customer especially when you try to showcase innovative approaches and thought processes with an aim to bring about radical changes inline with the industry standards . This is essentially because of the passion with which the work is carried out and the energy everyone brings to the table to improve the overall experience for the customer. Slogging day in and day out for ensuring timely delivery on projects, fixing quality issues with amazing turnaround times to win the trust of the customers is the order of the day.

At the end of it management ends up saying "'you are just doing your job not anyone a favour". When we stick to adhering w.r.t timelines and quality , expectation is to deliver the work as expected so that the desired goals are met . Post that the expectation suddenly increases and superiors start expecting everything ranging from new initiatives, proactive sales pitches to adoption of latest/emerging technologies, increasing CLV , training new joinees etc... list never ends. During performance review some minor point is picked up and mountains are made out of mole hills to not give you the desired recognition. Sometimes even points which are not in your control are quoted ( eg: Global Slowdown, local issues, visa policies etc....) .

Now comes the most frustrating part ,put yourself in the role of the customer as a part of your daily lives and experience the pain which you suffer.

Role as a Customer

Whatever services you are availing whether it is in the form of telecom or banking or any household related services (internet connectivity, laundary , Cable/DTH etc.... ) most of the times you will be left disappointed or fuming due to the lacklustre/careless attitude from the respective service providers.

It would have been a common occurrence that you will have to do multiple follow ups to fix the issue and keep running from pillar to post to complete your task. Many a times issues are not rectified , there is no single point of contact , people keep transferring your calls, deadlines are never met, same issue has to be highlighted umpteen number of times.... etc which is really annoying . Then there is another sense of behavioural aspects from these service providers which causes immense anger.
You would have observed that representatives from financial companies or other services would visit your homes, assure you all help , complete your forms and give their visiting cards etc... When you visit their premises for some other work it will be a different ball game altogether as these same set of people will not even recognise or bother to speak to you. You will have to again stand in long serpentine queues running to 10 different counters to get your work done , same is the case with Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMC) franchisees will keep changing but these dolts will never bother to inform you.


Unless and Until you raise your voice strongly , less are the changes that services are provided in a proper manner.

To Sum it up at one goIn short '' Customer is the king'' is a myth as rarely we get high quality service. This quote is justified when we end up on the other side :)