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One of the most difficult things for a large corporation to get right is a good level of customer service. The main problem is that, if there is 100% commitment to "the customer is always right" at the top managment level, costs escalate out of sight at the operations level as employees take the easy way out, follow the directive and don't contradict even unreasonable customers. This trend has a habit of snowballing as customers begin to realize that they can get away with anything. You can take this route but you will end up as a niche player catering to difficult and wealthy customers. (incidentally often a highly profitable market but it takes a while to become established and you must have excellent people and social skills)
What instead happens at many large corporations is that the "customer is always right" rule is qualified. Policies and procedures are implemented. Now the problem becomes employee training and attitude and this is a huge problem. It recently took me three attempts over four months to close my account at Compuserve and get credit for two months mistaken billing. Three out of the four employees I spoke with were not able to carry out my requests, presumably due to lack of training. Two had a belligerent attitude. A manager issued a credit note but forgot to close the account. And this is a company that has a good reputation. Now we can see how these problems for large corporations can be turned into a competitive advantage for small businesses. You can offer great customer service and commit 100% because you can keep a direct eye on costs and on your few employees. You see it immediately if an employee causes high costs due to unreasonable customers and you can correct the specific problems without resorting to complicated policies. The small business owner has control of details much more than the large corporation president and he can use that control to give superior customer service and use that fact to gain market share. Here, at Inc. Magazine, are some corporate types complaining about how the customers are not always right. Some of these businesses are not large but they have a typical corporate structure where the CEO, the complainant, has lost touch with his customers. Here, on another Inc. Magazine page, is an example of a small business that is thriving by offering superior customer service. The problem and the solution. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Customer Service in Small Business is owned by Bert Markgraf. Permission to republish Customer Service in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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