Ten laws for customer service

22 Apr, 2022 - 00:04 0 Views
Ten laws for customer service

eBusiness Weekly

Arthur Marara

The deliberate emphasis on the customer speaks to the importance of this particular person to the existence and growth of your business.

We covered this in the very first piece when we were talking about Customer Focus. The things that we often take for granted, can actually ground the business to a halt. Customers can easily write you off and forget about you completely.

“It is not your customer’s job to remember you, it is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.” [Patricia Fripp, Professional Keynote Speaker]

Businesses grow complacent, and often take customers for granted. Customers always have another option, or they will end up creating another option and consequently you will be out of business.

Remember, “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” [Michael LeBoeuf, Business author and former management professor].

Everyone has a role to play in the organisation in promoting excellent and unprecedented customer experience. Grant Bright, Former Project Lead IBM once remarked, “Sometimes one can become lost in a big company and lose sight of how what one does truly helps or impacts the end customer.

If you are one of those, think of a fire brigade, a line of people passing buckets of water from one to the other from a source of water to the site of the fire. An individual in the brigade may not be able to see the end result, i.e., the water being thrown on the fire to put it out, but the contribution of the individual is indispensable to the final outcome.”

Gandhi’s Formulae

One of India’s founding fathers Mahatma Gandhi bequeathed to us an immortal truth on customer service, “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us.

We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work – he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to serve him.”

These thoughts are loaded with some serious wisdom that can actually serve your business. You need to constantly remind your team members, on why they actually exist. Customers give your business relevance.

#1. Customers are the most important people in our business.

This is what every serious businessperson understands. Kerry Stokes, Chairman of the Seven Network once remarked that, “The most important adage and the only adage is, the customer comes first, whatever the business, the customer comes first.”

A business gains importance from the customers who are willing to consume your products or services. You thus need to gain the respect and trust of your customers.

The customers have to respect your business. This is a reciprocal relationship. Be intentional about it. This is the secret behind winning companies.

Customers never stay where they are taken for granted. I have taken my money elsewhere after being given dubious service.

Ensure that your customer comes first, that way the customer will last.

#2. Customers are not dependent on us – we are dependent on them.

This is very true. If a customer does not come to your business, life continues for the customer, unless you have something to deliver that the customer cannot do without.

In other words, your value proposition is so compelling and your customer experience is convincing.

This requires that you continuously learn, and improve. “To keep a customer demands as much skill as to win one.” (American Proverb) Your greatest asset is the customer!

Treat each customer as if they are the only one! An unhappy customer is likely to communicate their displeasure to dozen more people.

#3. Customers are not to argue or match wits with.

What does it benefit you to win an argument and lose a client? Yes, you may be having difficult clients, but you need to be careful how to handle them.

Train you team to avoid confrontation with customers. Most companies have worked on this on social media, where complaints are coming through in all forms through various platforms. Engage the client privately and hear the concerns, and genuinely make undertakings to attend to their queries.

“Thank your customer for complaining and mean it. Most will never bother to complain. They’ll just walk away.”

[Marilyn Suttle, Success Coach] Genuinley look into customer complains. Do not be worried when customer complains. Be grateful for that. #4. Customers brings us their needs – it is our job to fill those needs.

This is where the money is. Effective and efficient meeting of needs. This is the essence of customer focus, asking yourself, “what does the customer want?”, and how can you meet their needs.

Your team has to be ready to meet the needs of the customers, and create a basis for repeat business.

#5. Customers are not an interruption of work – they are the purpose of it.

“Two important things are to have a genuine interest in people and to be kind to them. Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything.” [Isaac Bashevis Singer, Author].

#6. Customers do us a favour when they call – we do not do them a favor by serving them.

Change your perspective about customers. How you think about your customers inevitably influences how you respond to them.

#7. Customers are part of our business – they are not outsiders.

In the previous articles, I shared the Coca Cola experience, and Mazowe cases where the market rejected the changes to the product that they had been loyal to for years.

Enhance the experience for the customer. Jeff Bezos, Founder Amazon advises that, “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job to make the customer experience a little bit better.”

8. Customers deserve the most courteous and attentive treatment we can give them.

James Cash Penney, Founder J.C. Penney Stores advised decades ago that, “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” A person can see and feel that they are not being given 100% attention. Be fixated on giving the customer the best experience.

Customers always come back for experience and not the actual product or service. They can always get it elsewhere, but not the experience.

Develop and master the art of courtesy and undisturbed focus on the customer. [“To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Essayist]

Don Alden Adams, President Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania once remarked, “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.”

#9. Customers are the individuals who make it possible to pay our wages.

Sam Walton hinted on this when he said the customer can fire everyone from the cleaner to the CEO by simply choosing to spend his or her money elsewhere. How so true?

10. Customers are the lifeblood of this and every other business.

Jim Rohn, late Author and Motivational Speaker once remarked that, “If you make a sale, you can make a living.

If you make an investment of time and good service in a customer, you can make a fortune.” Customers give meaning to your business, and in the absence of customers there is no company to talk about.

“Every company’s greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company.” [Michael LeBoeuf, Business author and former management professor]

◆ Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote speaker, corporate and personal branding speaker commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences.

He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, strategy and personal and professional development.

Arthur is the author of “Toys for Adults” a thought provoking book on entrepreneurship, and “No one is Coming” a book that seeks to equip leaders to take charge. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Visit his website www.arthurmarara.com or contact him on WhatsApp: wa.me//263780055152 or call +263772467255.

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