SERVICEWISE - Much Ado about the Customer

‘The customer is always right’, ‘The customer is king’ and other such venerations of that entity called ‘the customer’ have been around for years. Well, we know from experience that the customer is most certainly not always right, in fact he can not only be wrong but downright ‘stupid’ at times; and his monarchy is not only questionable but exists only in specific situations and only under certain circumstances (remember, the customer is not always right so it makes sense that he is only king when he is).

So why still all the fuss about the customer?

Why is the Customer Important?

Every need is born of a demand. It might not be wise to start a business just because you can or want to without taking the resources that will help make your business a success into consideration. You need answers to the following questions:

·         Who needs the product or service? (People)

·         Where are they located? (Place)

·         How much are they willing to pay for the product or service? (Price)

·         What are their preferences in terms of functionality? (Product or Service)

·         How do I let them know what I’m offering? (Promotion)

·         Who can I get to help me? (People)

·     How do I get things to work in the most effective manner to achieve my objectives? (Process/Procedures)

So you need people to buy your product or service, people to sell it and people to promote it. Though these people can be grouped into end users, distributors and employees and seem somewhat disconnected, they are important components in the life cycle of a thriving business. This means the way you treat them is vital.

Who is the Customer?

The stereotype definition of a customer is someone who buys a product or service that is available in order to satisfy a need. Before, when products were not performing as predicted, companies simply made a ‘better’ product or slashed prices. Nowadays, business owners are realizing that it’s not only what you sell but how you sell that makes a difference. It therefore follows that you have to think not only about the end user of your product but also of the people that help you get the product or service to them. They are also your customers.

Types of Customers

The world of customer service recognizes three types of customers:

External Customer: They are the ones usually conjured up in the mind when one thinks about a customer. They are the ones who walk into a store to make a purchase that would satisfy his need. The objective of exceptional customer service here is customer loyalty or retention and positive word-of-mouth advertising.

Intermediate Customer: They are less readily acknowledged. They are the ‘middle men’; the distributors or vendors that aid a business in getting its product to the end user. Since you need their goodwill in order for them to move and recommend your product, they are customers as well. They form part of your delivery systems. You want to serve them right also in order to achieve positive word-of-mouth advertising.

Internal Customer: These are your colleagues or co-workers, your human resources. They are potentially overlooked as you presume that because you work with them daily in the same organization, you are working towards the same goals. But picture a scenario where a co-worker is rude, unhelpful to a customer, doesn’t work with you to ensure your customers get the best service you can offer and is in essence not exhibiting the organizational culture. This will handicap your business so you also need to know how to deal with them. Here, you’re gunning for creating job satisfaction and positive, healthy attitudes to work. This cannot help but influence how customers are treated.

In a nutshell, the customer is everyone you interact with who can, in one way or the other, contribute positively to the growth and success of your business.

So if you knew that someone could help increase your profits, wouldn’t you overlook a lot of their ‘stupid’ faults (within reason), look for creative ways to resolve their problems so that they benefit the both of you, cause them to leave your business feeling like ‘kings’ and come back, bringing their friends?

That, my friends, is the definition of customer service.

SERVICEWISE - The Moment of Truth

No, it’s not the TV game show. Though why an individual would stand before millions of people to admit to matters that could potentially lead to character and career suicide is a question best answered by the participants themselves.

The ‘moment of truth’ I refer to is a terminology in customer service that describes any point during the interaction between an organization and its customers that leaves a lasting positive or negative impression about the business. In the hospitality industry, for instance, this would include, but not be limited to, booking the room, check-in, check-out, dinner reservations, dinner ordering, dinner presentation, quality and quantity of food and so on.

Why does it matter?

It matters for three major reasons:

1.      The customer has changed: In the past, it used to be that a business just produced products for the customer and the customer just had to take it or leave it. In the event that the customer did decide to leave it, the business would just make a better product. Nowadays, customers are more educated, better informed, more value conscious and demand more for their money. Their expectations of the companies and the people they buy from are much higher and the internet has brought more options literally to their doorsteps. They want better customer service and when they don’t get it, a typical dissatisfied customer will tell an average of 7 to 10 people about his problem and why they shouldn’t patronise you.

2.      The business environment has changed: Unless an organization has a monopoly in its industry, businesses today have more competition and globalization has ensured that this competition is not only local but regional and international. If you don’t offer superior service to your customer, they’ll just waltz over to someone who did, and wouldn’t mind paying the difference. That’s your money going to someone else simply because they performed better.

3.      The World Economy: The recession hit a lot of businesses pretty hard and so money is spent with a great deal more discretion. It doesn’t leave that much available for elaborate marketing strategies to attract new customers. The funny thing is, it has been statistically proven that it costs way less to maintain an existing customer than to get a new one.

So how do you determine this ‘moment of truth’?

·        Break down each process involved in the customer experience into its component stages to see where you can save your customer time or money. The best way is to ‘walk a mile in your customer’s shoes’. This is known as Mystery Shopping. A lot of businesses get expert help to pose as a customer and observe employee treatment and operational bottlenecks. You can simply get an informed friend to help out and then discover at which points your customer can potentially be frustrated. This Business Process Mapping can help you identify where money should be channelled and energies exerted.

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     Ask your frontline staff. Employees see first-hand the body language, nonverbal communication of the customer and the circumstances surrounding the particular incident, things that surveys will never see and that customers will sometimes not realise is happening.

Excellent customer service has the advantage of not only being an effective marketing tool but also a unique selling point for any company. By understanding the moments of truth, you can improve and even determine the perceptions of your customers. This would lead to positive word of mouth advertising and customer loyalty.