Chapter contributed by Sumathi
Sam Walton once 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."
Business is just like a Website. Here the customers are in the front end and the company employees are in the middle tier and the employer is at the back end. If web pages at the middle layer are not impressive, informative, user friendly and attractive to the front end users, they will never visit the website again. Similarly the employees in an organization should be willing to serve with a smile and should have the thorough knowledge about the product they are selling and should have the ability to supply the customer’s needs and wants.
We may have all the elements for a good customer service in place, but if the customer is not satisfied he will never come back to you. The core of good customer service is providing the customers more than what they expect and to give them a wow experience. Only excellent customer service will help the organization to retain the existing customers and to get new customers.
Hire for the Attitude
When hiring new employees be sure to select the one who is willing to go the extra mile over someone with greater technical skills. Attitude is important than aptitude. It is much easier to increase the technical skills of an employee but is difficult to change their attitude. Employees who excel at customer care have a natural desire to serve and express genuine empathy when conversing with upset customers.
Once a girl approached me and requested me to give her a job. She was a school dropout and she told me that she doesn’t know anything about computer. I asked her whether she is willing to learn, she said yes. I appointed her and within few months she learnt the entire process.
We used to have management subjects during our course. Now I used to recollect, what all we learnt then, the reasons for Employee migration and what we must do for retention.
A person with positive attitude is an asset for our company. Treat them well and retain them.
Training the Employee
George Patton said:
"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."
Employees, who are properly trained will have professional customer service skills, they can satisfy the customer and gain their loyalty. This helps the business retain customers and improve profits. It costs less to retain loyal customers than to acquire new ones. Satisfied customers will trust us and they will refer about our company to their neighbors, friends and relatives. Investing on Employees training will only fetch fortune for our company.
In some organization the policies of the management will tie the hands of the employee. Here the management needs the training. Employee empowerment allows staff members to make decisions without consulting their bosses or managers. By being allowed to make choices and participate on a more responsible level, employees become emotionally bonded company. They often view themselves as representatives of the company. This helps in redress the customer complaints fast.
In our organization I will not isolate myself and sit inside the cabin. I used to be always in the front desk and share the work with my staff. I will never interfere when they are handling the customers. Only when it goes beyond their limit to handle the customer I will take over from them. In some situation our staff will handle the situation better than us. They have trained me several times. We mutually teach each other.
I always want to be a role model for my staff. More than what they learn from training they tend to inherit a lot from me. If I am a disorganized mess, so is my business and my staff. If I have a negative attitude, so do my people. If I hide the truth and cut corners, my Staff will too. On the other hand, if I’m calm, confident, hardworking, meticulous, and fair and a problem-solver, then my staff will wish to follow. I need not teach the rules to my staff; the real rules are defined by my own actions.
How to gain total customer satisfaction?
We know that satisfied customers will buy more of our stuff thus generating higher profits. How are we going to satisfy the customers? First we must identify the need of the customer. In our LPG distribution system, timely delivery of Cylinders with quality and Quantity is the prime requirement of the customers. Our brand promise is that the product will be delivered within 48 hours.
The key factors that are involved in executing the Brand promise.
1. Inventory Management
2. Delivery system including Delivery Men and Mechanized Vehicles.
3. Climatic Conditions. Etc.
Only when the Key factors, which play major roles in our organization, work together it can result in customer satisfaction.
Keep measuring the performance. Give incentives to the delivery staff that help to improve the measure.
In our business customer satisfaction is not possible always. We are distributing subsidized product which is meant only for domestic purpose. Some of the customers who try to divert that for commercial purpose will hit the landmine of dissatisfaction frequently. We cannot remain silent thinking that the customer is always right. We have to be tough with those customers if they are not willing to correct themselves, knowing well that they are going to spread negative publicity about the company. To overcome this negative impact, our customer service has to be exceptionally good.
Customer Loyalty
Satisfied Customers are like a rear view mirror who will give the picture about the past. Only the loyal customers will predict the future of our business. Satisfied customers will migrate to your competitor if they are going to give a better service than what you give.
In our Organization we used to conduct lots of customer loyalty programs. We used to go to colonies and will organize free service camps. During festivals we used to join them and celebrate it. We used to organize lots of game shows and make them enjoy the day with us. As a part of our social responsibility we organize medical camps, educate the customers about safety and conservation. Such initiatives help us a lot to interact personally with most of our customers and gain their loyalty. Loyal customers are our brand ambassadors.
Customer Complaints
Customer complaints are free survey that helps us to identify where we need to focus and improve.
For every customer complaint, there are six other customers who have remained silent. If we try to solve the problem pertaining to complaining customer it is going to solve similar problem faced by many other, silent customers.
Customer complaints help us to learn what we lack.
If you do not listen to the customer complaint and solve it, the customer will take their business elsewhere.
If you put utmost effort to solve the issue it will increase the credibility of the company.
Sam Walton once 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."
Business is just like a Website. Here the customers are in the front end and the company employees are in the middle tier and the employer is at the back end. If web pages at the middle layer are not impressive, informative, user friendly and attractive to the front end users, they will never visit the website again. Similarly the employees in an organization should be willing to serve with a smile and should have the thorough knowledge about the product they are selling and should have the ability to supply the customer’s needs and wants.
We may have all the elements for a good customer service in place, but if the customer is not satisfied he will never come back to you. The core of good customer service is providing the customers more than what they expect and to give them a wow experience. Only excellent customer service will help the organization to retain the existing customers and to get new customers.
Hire for the Attitude
When hiring new employees be sure to select the one who is willing to go the extra mile over someone with greater technical skills. Attitude is important than aptitude. It is much easier to increase the technical skills of an employee but is difficult to change their attitude. Employees who excel at customer care have a natural desire to serve and express genuine empathy when conversing with upset customers.
Once a girl approached me and requested me to give her a job. She was a school dropout and she told me that she doesn’t know anything about computer. I asked her whether she is willing to learn, she said yes. I appointed her and within few months she learnt the entire process.
We used to have management subjects during our course. Now I used to recollect, what all we learnt then, the reasons for Employee migration and what we must do for retention.
A person with positive attitude is an asset for our company. Treat them well and retain them.
Training the Employee
George Patton said:
"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."
Employees, who are properly trained will have professional customer service skills, they can satisfy the customer and gain their loyalty. This helps the business retain customers and improve profits. It costs less to retain loyal customers than to acquire new ones. Satisfied customers will trust us and they will refer about our company to their neighbors, friends and relatives. Investing on Employees training will only fetch fortune for our company.
In some organization the policies of the management will tie the hands of the employee. Here the management needs the training. Employee empowerment allows staff members to make decisions without consulting their bosses or managers. By being allowed to make choices and participate on a more responsible level, employees become emotionally bonded company. They often view themselves as representatives of the company. This helps in redress the customer complaints fast.
In our organization I will not isolate myself and sit inside the cabin. I used to be always in the front desk and share the work with my staff. I will never interfere when they are handling the customers. Only when it goes beyond their limit to handle the customer I will take over from them. In some situation our staff will handle the situation better than us. They have trained me several times. We mutually teach each other.
I always want to be a role model for my staff. More than what they learn from training they tend to inherit a lot from me. If I am a disorganized mess, so is my business and my staff. If I have a negative attitude, so do my people. If I hide the truth and cut corners, my Staff will too. On the other hand, if I’m calm, confident, hardworking, meticulous, and fair and a problem-solver, then my staff will wish to follow. I need not teach the rules to my staff; the real rules are defined by my own actions.
How to gain total customer satisfaction?
We know that satisfied customers will buy more of our stuff thus generating higher profits. How are we going to satisfy the customers? First we must identify the need of the customer. In our LPG distribution system, timely delivery of Cylinders with quality and Quantity is the prime requirement of the customers. Our brand promise is that the product will be delivered within 48 hours.
The key factors that are involved in executing the Brand promise.
1. Inventory Management
2. Delivery system including Delivery Men and Mechanized Vehicles.
3. Climatic Conditions. Etc.
Only when the Key factors, which play major roles in our organization, work together it can result in customer satisfaction.
Keep measuring the performance. Give incentives to the delivery staff that help to improve the measure.
In our business customer satisfaction is not possible always. We are distributing subsidized product which is meant only for domestic purpose. Some of the customers who try to divert that for commercial purpose will hit the landmine of dissatisfaction frequently. We cannot remain silent thinking that the customer is always right. We have to be tough with those customers if they are not willing to correct themselves, knowing well that they are going to spread negative publicity about the company. To overcome this negative impact, our customer service has to be exceptionally good.
Customer Loyalty
Satisfied Customers are like a rear view mirror who will give the picture about the past. Only the loyal customers will predict the future of our business. Satisfied customers will migrate to your competitor if they are going to give a better service than what you give.
In our Organization we used to conduct lots of customer loyalty programs. We used to go to colonies and will organize free service camps. During festivals we used to join them and celebrate it. We used to organize lots of game shows and make them enjoy the day with us. As a part of our social responsibility we organize medical camps, educate the customers about safety and conservation. Such initiatives help us a lot to interact personally with most of our customers and gain their loyalty. Loyal customers are our brand ambassadors.
Customer Complaints
Customer complaints are free survey that helps us to identify where we need to focus and improve.
For every customer complaint, there are six other customers who have remained silent. If we try to solve the problem pertaining to complaining customer it is going to solve similar problem faced by many other, silent customers.
Customer complaints help us to learn what we lack.
If you do not listen to the customer complaint and solve it, the customer will take their business elsewhere.
If you put utmost effort to solve the issue it will increase the credibility of the company.