【英语生活】别忘了，顾客是上帝

In business, everything starts with the customer. Without customers, there are no sales, and with no sales, a business is bankrupt. Adam Smith knew this. “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of production,” he wrote.

Many companies forget this, however, and eventually pay the price.

Last week I sat, increasingly miserable, in an establishment I own, as a catalogue of incompetence saw a series of customers treated poorly. I could bear it no longer and intervened; now I shall watch like a hawk to see that our employees remember that without customers, there is nothing. On this occasion, the staff were too busy dealing with “internal” matters to attend to the very people who justify the whole undertaking.

On the same day, I was treated to a classic piece of poor service and inflexibility by British Airways, the struggling airline. It made me wonder if they will survive this downturn.

I fear that BA has become an institution run not for the benefit of its customers – who provide its revenue – but for its staff and pensioners. Its shareholders, meanwhile, have long been forgotten. It suffers from all the weaknesses of an ex-monopoly now facing ferocious competition and a terrible economy. Recent statistics show that BA cabin crew earn twice what rival airlines pay – and none of its competitors has BA's huge pension burden either.

BA has a high-cost model, and has come to depend on juicy margin passengers in first and business class. That income stream has been eviscerated – and is not returning soon. BA still charges significantly more than no-frills operators, and justifies this by calling itself a “full-service” airline.

My recent experience is that its service levels are no better than low-cost operators. In this climate, everyone is focused on value – and customers will desert an expensive offering for a cheaper one if the quality is indistinguishable. Management at BA are understandably trying to cut costs, since the business lost more than £400mlast year and may lose more this year. The union's answer to this massive challenge smacks of industrial suicide: they are threatening to go on strike.

Another organisation captured by workers and facing crisis is the Royal Mail. It is a monopoly now facing competition on many fronts. Technology is destroying the traditional letter as a means of communication at alarming speed. Letter volumes are falling by at least 10 per cent annually, and as everyone gets broadband connections, the need for traditional postal provision may well disappear altogether. Our local postmen appear to do a conscientious job but the organisation urgently needs to modernise and scrap archaic working practices.

Efficient newcomers and online alternatives mean the Royal Mail has a huge battle on its hands. Its staff are paid more than the private sector, their productivity is low and the organisation has a colossal pension deficit.

The Royal Mail has the luxury of being government owned, and its union contributes to the Labour party's coffers, which give it some current protection. But the grim reality of the market will intervene sooner or later. Again, the union response to reform has been to strike. Each time this happens, customers switch, never to return – steadily bleeding the mail to death.

Even vast companies with seemingly impregnable market positions can fail if they lose sight of why they are in business. General Motors had the supreme arrogance of a company with 40 per cent of all US car sales. But it pandered to its employees and the unions, failed to understand its customers and eventually needed a $50bn (€36bn, £31bn) government rescue. The demoralised and shrunken entity, now emerging from bankruptcy, may soon have just 10 per cent of the US market.

A contrast is the John Lewis Partnership, the British department store and grocery chain. Here the staff really do own the business, and behave like enlightened capitalists, rather than bloody-minded union members. It offers world-class service and a lesson in how important it is to keep the customer happy.

在商界，一切都从客户开始。没有客户，就没有销售收入，而没有销售收入，企业就会破产。亚当•斯密(Adam Smith)深谙此理。他写道：“消费是生产的唯一目的。”

然而，许多企业淡忘了这一点，最终为此付出了代价。

上周，我呆在自己的公司，感觉越来越糟糕，因为不作为记录表明，出现了一连串客户受到恶劣对待的事例。我无法再忍受下去，于是插手干预。现在我就像老鹰一样盯着自己的雇员，让他们铭记：顾客就是一切。而在这种情况下，员工们忙于应付“内部”事务，无暇顾及客户——他们正是整个企业存在的基础。

就在同一天，我体验到了英国航空公司(British Airways)那种典型的糟糕服务和僵硬作风，该公司目前正在困境中挣扎。这使我怀疑他们是否能够渡过经济低迷时期。

我担心，英国航空公司的运营目标已经不是为了顾客（收入来源）利益，而是为了其员工和退休人员。与此同时，其股东也早已被抛在脑后。作为一家当前面临着激烈竞争和经济低迷的前垄断企业，英国航空公司具有此类企业的所有弱点。最近的统计数据表明，英国航空公司机舱工作人员的收入是竞争对手的两倍——而且所有竞争对手都没有英国航空那样庞大的养老金负担。

英国航空公司施行高成本模式，并开始依赖利润丰厚的头等舱和商务舱乘客。这种收入流模式已经被废除，短时间内无法恢复。英国航空公司的收费仍远高于廉价航空公司，并标榜自己是一家“提供全面服务的”航空公司，以此证明其高收费的合理性。

我最近的亲身经历表明，这种服务水平比廉价航空好不到哪儿去。在当前形势下，所有人都关注价值——如果服务水平无甚差别，客户就会放弃票价昂贵的航班，转投廉价航空公司。英国航空公司管理层正试图削减成本，这一点可以理解。去年该公司亏损逾4亿英镑，今年可能出现更大的亏损。工会对这一巨大挑战的回应，颇有点行业自杀的味道：他们威胁要举行罢工。

另一家被员工俘获的企业是英国皇家邮政(Royal Mail)，该公司同样面临危机。这家垄断企业在许多方面都遇到了竞争。科技正以惊人的速度击溃传统书信这种通讯手段。信件数量以每年至少10%的速度下滑，随着所有人都装上宽带，对传统邮政服务的需求很可能会彻底消失。我们本地的邮差看上去勤勤恳恳，但整个企业迫切需要施行现代化，摒弃陈旧的工作方式。

高效率的新竞争对手和在线通讯手段，意味着皇家邮政即将迎来一场激烈的较量。其员工薪水高于私营部门，生产力却较为低下，此外，该企业有着庞大的养老金赤字。

皇家邮政享有国有企业的优势，其工会向工党捐款，为它提供了一些目前的保护。但市场的无情现状迟早会打破其保护伞。此外，工会一直以罢工来应对改革举措。每当发生这种情况，顾客都会流失，再也不会回来——一步步地将邮政推向绝境。

如果忘记了存在的目的，即便是那些市场地位看上去坚不可摧的大型企业也可能倒闭。通用汽车(General Motors)享有汽车销量占美国总销量40%的无上荣耀。但它一味迎合其员工和工会，却未能理解消费者的需求，最终必须接受美国政府500亿美元的救援。这家士气低落、规模缩水的企业目前刚刚脱离破产保护，不久可能仅占到美国市场10%的份额。

一个相反的例子就是英国百货公司和连锁杂货店John Lewis Partnership。在这家企业，员工真正拥有企业，其所作所为就像开明的资本家，而非刁蛮的工会成员。该公司提供世界一流水平的服务，并告诉人们：让客户满意是何等重要。

译者/何黎