THIS week I have once again been compiled to tackle the subject of poor customer service in most commercial organisations.
Sometime last year I looked at the same topic but a friend of mine who happens to be a senior marketing officer at Radio Christian Voice insisted that I address this topic once more.
Apparently he has been a victim of poor services on a number of occasions.
I should concur with my friend that poor customer service is a source of concern for most of us in the marketing industry.
Some organisations have been making efforts in promoting and marketing their products only to fail at the point of delivery.
As one notable musician put it, it is the Poor Finishing aspect.?Good customer service is very critical for every organisation because it determines whether an organisation will get repeat business or sales. Repeat business is essential for every organisations success.
In fact in marketing orientation it is among the fundamental factors – customer satisfaction.
This can only be achieved through effective and efficient Customer service levels or processes.?Organisations must strive to synergize their processes and operations in order to be successful at service.
Remember that there cannot be success in any organisation which is disjointed.
Successful organisations are those that work as a team having all work efforts, processes and work groups harmonized.?Before going any further I would like us to understand the concept of customer service.?What does it involve and what is it about?
Ideally customer service is about helping customers before and after actual delivery of products.
Customer service is in two parts. It is either customer service for services such as banking or hospitality.
For example a customer wishing to open a new bank account, will need to be assisted with the process by a bank representative.
He or she will expect the process to be less complicated, less hectic and efficient.
It can also come with products such as electrical appliances or computers.?In both cases there is some significant requirement for attending to customers’ needs before and after a sale.
However, it is a pity that in some organisations achieving good customer service is still a tall order.?For marketers it can be very frustrating as well as depressing after going out of your way to convince clients and customers that you will deliver according to their expectations and needs – good quality?products and in good time – only to be let down by your organisations failure to deliver.
It is actually a moral dilemma.
If it is in the game of foot ball, it is frustrating for strikers when after making hard efforts to score, the defenders and the goal keeper carelessly allow opponents to equalise or off set your lead.
Marketers do a lot of ground work to ensure that an organizations products or services are marketable; they are like strikers in organisations aiming to score goals for the team.?Customer service is the defence mechanism of every commercial organization.
Customer service is the anchor of every business organisation because without good service an organization cannot keep its customers.
Long term relationships with customers are becoming increasingly important in highly competitive environments.
As I had emphasized in my previous article, in a market environment which is characterized by heavy competition, good customer service offers an organisation the opportunity to create for itself a unique?selling proposition and a distinguishing factor.
In a market where similar products are offered for example in the telecommunications and banking industry, how does one differentiate himself from others?
It is only exceptional customer service that will make you stand out.?What organizations should know is that good service is not a matter of lip service.
Customer service is a matter of practice and performance.
It is one thing to promise to do something and it is another to do or carry out that which you have promised to do.?Some time back when I was handling some marketing classes at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA),
I remember sharing this with my students – the need for organisations to walk their talk.
I recall making an example on organisational brand-promises or brand-speaks which do not present the correct picture.
Brand-speaks such as ‘Efficient and Reliable’ should be seen from the conduct of the organisation.
An organisation that is not known to be reliable should never make promises of being reliable, because if taken very serious these constitute civil crimes bordering on false claims for which an individual can sue an organisation.
In conclusion, my appeal to business organisations is for them to draw out individual customer service programmes and come up with organisational policy on customer service as this is the only way they?will be able to effectively service their customers and leave them satisfied.
The author is a Manager for Business Development, Marketing and Public Relations at the Zambian Open University.