客户就是上帝

客戶就是上帝

kèhù jiù shì shàngdì

phrase

Meanings

1 the customer is God (Chinese version of 'the customer is always right')
2 stock service-industry slogan invoked to justify customer-first (and often staff-sacrificing) behavior

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

我们公司的原则就是客户就是上帝。

Wǒmen gōngsī de yuánzé jiùshì kèhù jiùshì shàngdì.

Our company's principle is that the customer is God.

HSK 5

别再说什么客户就是上帝了，他们也要讲道理。

Bié zài shuō shénme kèhù jiùshì shàngdì le, tāmen yě yào jiǎng dàolǐ.

Stop with this 'customer is God' stuff - they still need to be reasonable.

Tips

culture

Chinese adaptation of the Japanese retail mantra お客様は神様です (okyakusama wa kamisama desu), coined by singer Minami Haruo in the 1960s. Picked up by Chinese service industries in the 1990s and now routinely invoked - and mocked - in discussions about abusive customers and the limits of service-worker patience.

usage

Often used ironically today. Genuine use is still common in corporate training; flipped use ('客户才不是上帝') is common in worker complaints.

Stroke Order

客 kè

户 hù

就 jiù

是 shì

上 shàng

帝 dì