I once worked in a place where my manager got mad at one of my teammates for being too much of a customer advocate. This left me scratching my head. By definition, an advocate is a supporter, promoter, or backer, so, given that, I kind of thought that’s what we were supposed to be doing. When my manager derided my teammate for it, it left me in a quandary.

What is a business supposed to be doing? Is it supposed to be supporting customers or not? If not, what is the alternative?

When I look at the way some companies treat customers, one can see that alternative. It’s called being adversarial. Adversary, by the way, means challenger, enemy, or antagonist. And believe me, I have been antagonized by many a business. Maybe not always in big ways but antagonized, nevertheless.

So, how do businesses antagonize? How do they become adversaries?

There are many ways but some of the most common are using policies and rules as fallbacks for almost any problem, not allowing substitutions, locking customers in with a contract, having no way to contact them without a huge hassle, making speaking with a human an almost impossible feat, no returns, hidden added fees…should I go on or have I made the point?

These are only a few of the ways companies become adversaries to their customers. In fact, they become hated, yes, hated. For example, whenever I utter the name of a particular cable TV/internet provider, I hear groans followed by, “I hate them. They suck.” The sad thing is that you can substitute any number of companies for that cable TV/internet provider and get a similar reaction.

So, I wonder, is being thought of so poorly what my manager wanted? I can assure you that that is not the case. What exactly did he mean by “too much of a customer advocate?”

What I believe he meant was that the employee in question should have been looking out more for the company than the customer. But, to me, I don’t understand that either. If customers are having challenges, why shouldn’t employees speak up for them? Shouldn’t employees be looking out for problems? Shouldn’t these customer issues be a cause for concern? Shouldn’t the complaints of customers run to the top of the list of things to be looked at and made right?

Let’s look at this clearly. If customers are the reason your company exists and the thing that keeps you running, don’t you think those advocates should be encouraged instead of shut down? Why would any manager criticize an employee for being too much of a customer advocate and, in the end, helping the company to be better? This kind of criticism only keeps the company doing what it has always done, and that thing might be the thing that is standing in the way of greater success.

Think about you and your business. Are you an advocate or an adversary? Do you speak up for the customer or stand behind the company in everything? While you may think standing by the company is right and proper, you may, instead, be standing in the way of progress and growth.

Too much of an advocate. Nope. There’s no way to be too much of that. Advocating for your customers is the best thing for your organization. Stand up and be their voice. Fix the broken and make the wrong right.  

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