Defining Customers

The article in Ventura County’s Life section (Aug. 27) on customer service was very interesting. I am a quality management consultant and devote a large part of my time to helping people see the value of having satisfied customers. The answers to your Manners Quiz were right on target.

Supervisors and managers have the obligation to train employees to provide good service and deal with difficult customers. They further have an obligation to monitor performance and provide additional training as necessary. The second point involves the definition of a customer. A customer is anyone who depends on you doing your job to get what he/she needs. This means that co-workers are also customers of one another and are entitled to the same treatment as the external customer.

However you look at it, it will always be true that you can’t win an argument with a customer because customers will vote with their feet and take others with them.

JIM CALLAHAN

Port Hueneme