The Whitewater Rafting Guide to Customer Relationships

A while ago in our office I overheard one of our design engineers say, “Well, the customer is always right” as an attempt to shrug off being trumped by his customer in choosing a particular design direction. I’ve heard this standard business cliché many times before but never gave it much thought, accepting it as the homage we pay to those who pay our bills and put food on our tables. After all, if you argue with your customers they might pull their business, and next thing you know your wife and kids will be begging on the streets for food and your name will be “Mud.” You don’t want that, do you?

Despite these mental dramas, this time when I heard that phrase it struck an unjust chord deep in my soul that made me want to affirm to this designer that his direction had merit. I didn’t like seeing him throw in the towel on something that he believed was a better solution for the customer. So, I piped into this engineer’s conversation: “The customer is NOT always right,” I said. Then I paused and thought for a couple seconds, “But the customer is always the customer.” It was with that thought that I realized our duty as a supplier is to not simply do what our customer wants, but to show them the best path to their success and do it in a way that is win-win for both.

If you are like most, you want to help your customers succeed and you want to have pride in the work that your teammates and you do. After all, your customer’s success creates a wonderful by-product: your success! There are times when your customer is going down a path you believe will lead to unnecessary grief for them and for you. You know this not because you are some all-knowing guru, but because you have been there before, which gives you good reason that justifies taking a better direction on that project. Also, there’s little worse than having your teammate feel as though his or her opinion is not valued by your customer, then watching as that customer consequently struggles to make their own approach work. You want to avoid “I told you so” situations, and you don’t want your customer getting creative on how to ascribe blame back to you. The answer to this common challenge can be found in how you perceive your role as the supplier.

At one end of the supplier-customer relationship continuum is the Master-Slave relationship. The customer says, “Supplier, I want you to do X, Y and Z, and I want you to do it this particular way.” And the supplier says, “Yes sir!” It’s obvious who the supplier is and who the customer is. This can work well for many business relationships where the supplier is happy serving up what the customer tells them to. At the other end of the supplier-customer relationship continuum is the emergency room scenario. Here, it’s not so obvious who the supplier or customer is. You, as the paying customer, come in all banged up and delirious, not sure what to do. The doctor, as the supplier being paid, is the one calling all the shots, taking charge and setting the direction on what to do.

Good design and engineering firms fall somewhere in the middle of this continuum. They navigate the river with their customers, guiding them through the rough waters of product development, helping avoid the rocks and pitfalls that always arise. Because you’ve been there before—maybe not exactly, but certainly somewhere similar—you can anticipate the problems. So how do you lead your customer successfully? The answer, and the challenge, lies in the middle of the continuum.

The middle of the supplier-customer relationship continuum is what I call the “Whitewater Rafting Guide.” As the whitewater raft guide, you are paid by your customers to navigate them down the river. They want to have fun, feel the excitement and be safe on the river. That is success to them. Your job is to lead them down that river successfully and make their experience a positive one. After all, they will tell their friends about you.

As product development professionals, our customers want success but occasionally lack the experience that you have. They may think they know which route is best but it may lead them (and you) crashing into the rocks. The best approach in these situations is to lead them while still affording them their autonomy as the customer. In order to show them a better way, you need to be tactful. You need to bring clear objectivity to your reasoning (data, case studies, etc.). You need to show them the benefits of your path while still showing respect for theirs. And, in the best cases, you need to make them feel like choosing your path was their decision. If you can manage to do this, then you have accomplished a great and necessary feat in differentiating yourself from your competition, avoiding grief for your customer and helping bring success to everyone involved. In the end, your customer pays you, and that’s what makes them the customer. Yet, ultimately, their success is your highest priority; and if you can lead them through the whitewater successfully, they will rely on you more and more . . . and then you can confidently say to your wife and children, “Hey, that’s ‘Mr. Mud’ to you!”