7.1 Exceptional service = repeat business
Key service concept:
Realise this: it takes very little effort to lose a customer...
We have often heard it said that customer service is just common sense. Certainly this is true! Common sense must become common practice . Many companies say that the customer's satisfaction is paramount - but one must successfully transfer the intention into a workable strategy.
How many of the following situations have you experienced?
- You are visiting an office where you find you are one of several people to get the "first" 8.30 am appointment.
- You receive another incorrect account. After being put on hold and transferred three times, you decide against dealing with the company again and hang up. The receptionist probably wondered what happened to your call.
- You contact an organisation that passes you from department to department and nobody seems to know how to help you.
- You visit a business that does not open its doors for business until a couple of minutes after the scheduled time for opening and all the while the staff seem to be standing around chatting.
No doubt you are able to add to the list. The people representing these businesses, or the businesses themselves, have not fostered a culture that cares for the customer. The idea is to use this type of information to build into your service strategy what customers like - similar to when we spoke of turning threats into opportunities in Principles of Management .
Dwyer (2002, p. 529) states that customer service "means meeting the needs and expectations of the customer as defined by the customer". A "service culture" is the manner in which services are offered across the organisation.
Key service concept:
Perhaps the measure of success is not whether you have a tough service issue to deal with - but whether you have the same issue tomorrow, next week or next year! Do you learn from the experiences? Do you change policies, introduce or change systems or procedures?
Consider the following brief example:
Jan telephones her supplier to determine why a container of parts is overdue. She is unable to reach her regular contact and an irritated "stand in" informs her, "All that I know is that they were shipped three weeks ago. Any more than that I can't help you".
Hopefully Jan will come back - hopefully. Regardless she told a lot of people about how dissatisfied she was.
So how would you have handled this situation?
How about the following approach?
The telephone extension is answered by the service provider who after and appropriate greetings asks, "Can I help you?" Jan explains her problem to the clerk who promptly finds someone to assist her. (Alternatively, if the inventory clerk could not locate someone suitable to assist Jan, he or she could have taken a message and assure Jan that her problem would be dealt with as soon as possible.) Jan later told several people about how the service provider had gone out of his way to help.
What can we learn from this example?
- Although Jan was unable to contact her regular representative who would have sorted out her problem, it was still the clerk's responsibility to assist the customer in any manner he could.
- So you work behind the scenes? Do not be surprised if a customer asks you a question. Do not answer "that is not my job". Ensure that you do what you can to assist the customer.
- A satisfied customer may tell other people about their experience with your service. A dissatisfied customer is very likely to be vocal to a number of people about your poor service.
It takes very little effort to lose a customer! Now read the following short extract:
Cost of Losing a Customer
Because of the increased expectations of customers and the competitiveness of the marketplace, customer service providers are recognizing the high cost of losing customers. It takes little effort to lose customers. When service providers neglect their concerns, treat them with disrespect, and fail to follow through with results, customers will be tempted to make their exit.
When customers cease to do business with us and begin to do business with our competition, several unfortunate situations occur.
- We lose the current dollars that our business relationship created. This loss may seem insignificant to begin with, but over a period of time it can prove to be quite damaging.
- We lose the jobs that our client or clients provide. If business goes elsewhere, we do not need to employ the people who were working on the account or accounts. An advertising agency lost a major advertising account because of a lack of courtesy and follow-through on the agency's part. This loss of business resulted in the closing of the office, putting more than 50 people suddenly out of work.
- A third situation that may occur is the loss of reputation . Word travels fast in our information-based society. Our clients may share their experiences with their clients and friends. This loss may result in the immediate departure of other business or simply in a lack of trust among our current clients and any potential customers.
- A final challenge is the loss of future business . This is an intangible variable because it is difficult to assess the long-term effects of what might have happened in the future. Nevertheless, whether it is one dollar or a million dollars, its importance is worth recognizing.
Harris, 2000, p. 7
The example in the following reading may be somewhat "bland" - however, work through it with the aim of gaining an appreciation of the possible magnitude of lost customers.
Reading 7.1
Timm, P. 2001, "Calculate the terrible cost of the lost customer".
Key service concept:
Keeping current customers uses resources more efficiently than finding new ones - replacing lost customers is an expensive part of any business.
Back Page