I went to lunch with a friend who’s a divorce attorney here in Oklahoma City.
Midway through our meal, his wife called to blame him for leaving the pool gate open.
He calmly apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again.
Then he hung up and said, “I’m 1000% sure she left the gate open.”
I asked, “So why didn’t you say that?”
He smiled and said,
“You can be right or you can be married. You can’t have both.”
They’ve been married 27 years.
And that, my friends, is customer service in a nutshell.
The customer is still always right—
Not because they’re factually right.
But because arguing with them is a losing proposition.
On my podcast, I asked my friend Bob:
“Is the customer always right?”
He replied:
“The customer’s not always right. But the customer is the customer.”
I tend to philosophize. Bob just drops wisdom like a customer service Yogi Berra.
Here’s another truth: People still want people.
Back in the late ’90s, I thought I’d get rich replacing humans in customer service.
Didn’t happen.
Every “smart” company has predicted the death of the voice channel.
And yet, it’s still the #1 channel customers use.
Gartner says that by 2027, chatbots like ChatGPT will handle 25% of customer contacts.
I wouldn’t bet on it.
Customers will use bots—until something goes wrong.
Then they want a human. Always.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t automate.
Just don’t forget: People will always be at the center.
Customer service is still a game of defense.
And the reward for doing it well?
Crickets. Silence. Apathy.
In 20+ years of customer focus groups, not one person has ever asked me for something new.
No new tech. No new apps.
Just the basics, done well.
Try this:
Close your eyes and list the best customer service companies you’ve dealt with.
Pretty short list, right?
Now list the worst ones.
That list? Probably too long for one sitting.
The truth is:
The reward for being great is indifference.
The reward for being bad is infamy.
Avoid the bad. Do the boring things well.
Most of the advice out there tells you what new shiny thing to try.
Nobody tells you what not to change.
But customer service is about avoiding mistakes.
That’s the job.
I write about customer service and living blissfully.
Let’s connect here on LinkedIn
