Whose interests are more important? In the long-run? in the short-run?

That’s the key. Are you playing the long game or the quick fix? I’m not an economist but if you want a relationship with your customers it would make sense to give them the benefit of the doubt, to show them it’s not about right or wrong but about serving YOU. I think deep down we all want that, that feeling that we are important to the business and we matter as a customer, it’s an unspoken relationship and unsigned contract, between customer and purveyor. In business that is forgotten often, but let’s not pretend it doesn’t matter.

It’s not obvious to many and even counter-intuitive to some. The perspective matters a great deal here and that is why it is a great proverb for discussion.

Who is right?

Is one side being unreasonable?

As someone who has lived in the States I’ve seen many examples of this proverb in practice, and people have come to expect it, it’s natural and most don’t argue. For Polish people this is not the case at least from what I have noticed.

When doing a lesson on customer service, complaints and shopping you can use this proverb to initiate discussion on the subject, or leave it for a later time after covering some important vocabulary. Follow up questions to encourage debate of different viewpoints may be valuable as well. If it’s a multi-cultural class this proverb should spark some differences in opinion.

Need a lesson plan on customer service? Well I got one for you right here. It has all you need to conduct your lesson. Good luck. Need more lesson ideas? Sign up for the ‘Freshen Up Fridays’ newsletter here to get free lesson ideas, teacher tips, videos and students insights.