Addressing Excessive Customer Demands in the Retail and Service Industries

 

Overview

In Japan, the term “Customer Harassment” (カスハラ, Kasuhara) has been coined to describe excessive customer demands, and social awareness about this issue is rising. In the retail and service industries, there has been growing discussion on rethinking the "customer-first" approach and various measures to protect employees.

Here are three representative discussions on this topic:

① Breaking Away from "The Customer is Always Right" and Shifting Values

  • Revising the traditional value of "the customer is always right" and shifting toward a mindset that promotes equal relationships between employees and customers.

  • It is essential to create an environment where employees can respond firmly to excessive demands and verbal abuse.

② Clear Distinction Between Manual Guidelines and On-Site Judgment

  • Establishing behavioral standards and guidelines to help on-site staff determine "how far they should go" in their responses.

  • More companies are implementing role-play training and sharing criteria for identifying customer harassment (e.g., personal attacks, intimidating behavior).

③ Psychological Safety for Employees and Legal Support from Employers

  • Clarifying the commitment of supervisors and companies to protect employees who are victims of customer harassment.

  • Some companies are implementing legal measures such as "keeping records" and "coordinating with the police and lawyers" to provide a structured response.

  • Unions are also setting up consultation services for affected employees.

These efforts are being recognized as crucial not only for maintaining service quality but also for protecting employees' mental and physical health.

On the other hand, many tasks that can be handled through manuals are now being done by robots and self-service systems, allowing customers to receive services in new ways. With the use of AI, customer service will gradually shift from human employees to robots and technological services. It will be interesting to see what types of human services will still be required in such an evolving environment.

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