Customer Service When The Customer Isn't Always Right: Thoughts On Healthcare and Education

Customer service in healthcare and education is inherently different from commercial customer service situations for one reason in particular. The customer isn't always right. Now, you may protest, the customer isn't always right anywhere, and you're correct. But for commercial endeavors my famous rule of thumb applies quite well across the board: the customer isn't always right, but it pays to make them feel like they are. In education and healthcare, however, this rule needs to be modified. In education: you’re trying to raise scholars and future citizens. So tough love is often needed: not the pandering of an undeserved "yes," but the necessity of saying “no” when customers (students) get things wrong, so that they can learn for next time what is required to succeed, whether that’s being on-time, being organized, or studying harder.