adminShelter Hamandishe Change Management
And so the customer service excellence awards have come and gone. Most of the brands that took the accolades are really the common names. So it stands to reason that in many economies going through tidal economic conditions, customer service excellence is temporarily shelved for “more pressing” issues. It’s more periphery to talk of upholding and being attentive to the customer’s needs, being polite, friendly, going the extra mile, and asking the customer questions to make sure that you are meeting his or her needs to the best of your ability.
What most companies are not realising is that some things that help deliver good customer service are service-level agreements. These help customers to know how long it will probably take you to get back to them, or to solve their problems.
Many of us have experienced irate customers that are angry or upset, and being able to react kindly rather than taking offence takes some patience and tolerance of rudeness. But to be able to calm people down and solve their problems even in those tough situations is the hallmark of excellence in customer service.
In Zimbabwe, consumers are being protected by the Consumer Protection Bill that was drafted last month. It is a forerunner to the establishment of a consumer court and a consumer protection commission.
I understand that issues that affect the consumer such as networking consumer activities, promoting fair business practices and protecting consumers from unreasonable and unjust trade practices will be included.
I believe customer service is a highly important part of every small business. Companies that are unable or unwilling to properly service their customers stand to lose the customers’ business.
However, several key variables or characteristics set excellent customer service apart from mediocre customer service. A company that best demonstrates these excellent customer service characteristics will have a distinct advantage over its competition.
It is no faux that as managers we are meeting increasingly demanding customers. The web-enabled business models is making the old supply chain and purchasing process obsolete and is creating something far more compelling, challenging and complex. As companies, we must be prepared to meet the ever-increasing expectations of customers and remain competitive.
In most established fields, almost everyone wants customised products. Companies that drive more volumes in this environment will be the ones with business designs that begin and end with customers. I believe it all comes down to choice: most customers want products and services that meet their unique requirements and they want to purchase those products in a way that is convenient and easy for them and at a reasonable price, not cheap, just fair.
Very few individuals have little knowledge about what they want to purchase, Now customers often know as much or more about your products than you do, and they know what literally everyone else in the world is selling it for and how fast they can deliver it.
The internet has changed the dynamics. With nearly universal access to information, buyers now have incredible bargaining power and have also taken away a huge number of tools from your very eloquent sales assistant.
Being given an award as the best in customer service does not just happen. Take a look at companies that are not doing well or have gone under, one of their common threads is the failure to deliver superior customer service.
The telecommunications company that won for having the best call centre did not just wake up and lo and behold it was so.
Companies that fall in terms of customer service have a similarity in the following – they do not really care about it . They may or may not understand the value of customer service and view customer service training as a cost. Most of these have minimal growth and do not have consistent new product introduction.
They spend a lot of money on advertising dollars and eventually lose market share and experience decreased profits.
The next category is those that ask themselves why they should try harder. To them, it’s not priority and put minima in training if any.
If you were not being deliberate about your customer service, start doing it today. Start with your service strategy. Make an effort to design it well, you should be able to pull out a number of key service result areas that can be easily quantified and measured. Don’t forget to measure frequently. Once a month is the best, a lot can go wrong in 3 months.
Collect quantitative and qualitative data. Numbers are helpful as are opinions and feelings. Benchmark your findings against your competitors and best-in-class companies.
Look anywhere and everywhere to find the very best examples of superb customer service delivery and measure your performance directly against these top performers. Do not take it for granted, it could make or break your business.
Till next week, May God richly bless you.
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