It hasn’t been a good few weeks for big businesses appearing to want to profit at all costs. Firstly, Volkswagen are exposed as having misled the public and the authorities about the greenness of some of their cars. And then it’s the turn of Thomas Cook – heavily criticised by the independent review into the sad deaths of two youngsters nine years ago as putting profitability ahead of customer service.

Could profit be sacrificed to help loyal customers?
The latter statement could be directed at so many big businesses with which we deal on a daily basis. At all of the major banks the question is how do we make more money for our shareholders? Would it ever enter their thinking to suggest that profit could be sacrificed occasionally in the name of helping out a loyal, but perhaps struggling, customer?

Insurance and telephone companies are little better. They both rely heavily on internet traffic and getting through their complex telephone routines to talk to someone about your account is on a par with contacting HMRC to discuss your Notice of Coding.

Business ethics are at risk
Sometimes it isn’t customer service that is compromised or ignored in the name of keeping the shareholders happy. No, it’s business ethics that are at risk. Most major retailers now go to great lengths to audit how their clothing is produced in Asia after there were so many incidences of sweat-shop labour being involved in its production. Their record is much better nowadays, but recent stories would suggest that the process hasn’t been eliminated completely.

Businesses have to embrace strong ethics even if there is no immediate financial gain. And no business manager should ever dismiss the importance of customer service. Every one of them should read the independent review of the Thomas Cook incident and reflect on how many of the problems identified there are relevant to the businesses that they manage.