Customer service skills for entrepreneurs

BY KEMI MSHELIA

For some time now the “customer is always right” mantra has been heralded by a good number of organisations claiming to be intensely customer-focused. You often see it written on plaques hanging in conspicuous places within business reception areas or placed in a more strategic light within company mission statements. However in recent times, it has not just been bright-eyed seller-organizations singing this tune.

Now, the demanding buying-public (here to referred to as the “customer”) has also taken up the chant, annoyingly so – on occasion – for the customer service executives having to deal with often discourteous (perhaps even foul-mouthed) clients throwing tantrums for the sake of said mantra. Conceivably, this situation contributes immensely to the bad tempers of often unpleasant customer service representatives.

Most of us have been on the receiving end of appalling customer service treatment. Still most of us have witnessed a customer bullying service personnel. It is quite clear that client-rep relationships can be rather tricky.

So what exactly is the strategy behind this assertion?

The statement, originally coined by the founder of Selfridges of London – H G Selfridge in 1909, was intended to encourage employees to treat customers exceptionally and also to convince customers that they will be given exceptional treatment by the organization. This thinking was further buttressed by Wal-mart founder, Sam Walton, when he said, ‘There is only one boss”. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else’. As well intentioned as this idea comes across, unsurprisingly it has not quite worked to purpose. It may infact have been largely counter-productive – as per the afore-mentioned tantrums and bad tempers.

Customer service interactions are especially of importance to small businesses as it has been said to cost five times as much to attract a new customer as it does to keep a current customer satisfied. Efficiency-seeking organizations have recognised that losing a customer means losing not just a single sale but a lifetime’s worth of purchases and referrals. With the knowledge that the customer service experience can change the entire perception that a customer has of an organization, larger organisations have invested heavily in delivering superior customer value in a bid to retain their profitable customers and build lasting relationships with them. They have found this to make good economic sense. Customer service is therefore used as a highly effective marketing and customer retention tool.

Clearly one solitary mantra will not work wonders all in itself. In essence, continuously good customer service is not just about a catchy phrase or a checklist of processes but more importantly about mindsets, values and cultures as these elements contribute to sustainability. It is also about continuous improvement, learning from the environment, learning from various experiences, learning from customers, learning from employees, and feeding this knowledge back into the business for improvement. For the small business or lone entrepreneur, self-improvement is certainly essential. If you find that you are not patient or charming enough to handle your customer service (we can not all be as docile as Banke Meshida-Lawal of Faces Makeovers/BMPro Cosmetics who conveys superior customer service interactions at all times), then hire someone suitable to do the job. It is crucial.

Your customers may not be vocal about their expectations in this regard, but a bad customer service experience could well see them never patronising your business in the future.

As a Nigerian small business owner in a competitive environment, you cannot afford to lose out due to poor customer interactions. You must at least own your customer service efforts. They cannot be left to chance. A well coordinated business-wide effort will score you points with your customers and on your P & L. Kudi Sofola of Biscom Matrix is developing a comprehensive list of Nigerian organizations that render excellent customer service so that like-minded individuals can choose to patronise only those businesses they can expect to be treated courteously at.

Consumers are demanding more. And entrepreneurs must deliver more non-detrimentally to their businesses. The bottom-line therefore is – as an entrepreneur you must value your work and yourself and treat your customers with paralleled value. You should try at all costs to only get people involved in your business who can mirror these values and efforts. Lastly, in the words of Laurie McIntosh, “You are serving a customer, not a life sentence. Learn how to enjoy your work.”

Source: Punchng.com