Service Best Practices

 Existing customers are the most important asset of a business and retaining and extending your share of their wallet is the most valuable action that can be taken by a business.  In this article Steve Downton discusses changing attitudes towards Customer Relationship Management, away from the traditional but outdated capture and utilisation of information about a customer and move towards guiding and directing a customer towards a trusting relationship to the benefit of both parties.

Fully supported service, through the right systems, is no longer an afterthought; instead it provides the cornerstone of the business strategy, providing long-lasting differentiation in the currently extremely competitive environment.  This environment now and for the foreseeable future has the consumer holding sway, or to use a colloquialism - it is a buyers’ market!  This has come about through customers being much more aware of what they can expect and demand from their supplier, and the willingness of suppliers to accept and deliver to those demands in order to win business.  The internet has created availability, and global interaction has reduced the barriers to switching supplier, so retaining customers is about keeping aware of their changing needs and innovating as required, to respond to either spoken or un-spoken needs and provide a cost-effective, potentially unique solution, that will be highly valued and paid for.  This apparently straightforward requirement recognises the need for information to guide and direct businesses into relationships that enable customer and supplier to perceive value in a customer-managed relationship.   This process also has the added value of creating loyal, satisfied customers prepared to provide promotion and referral for the supplier, with potential new customers.

Research carried out with a number of the best performing companies; found that the majority of senior managers were visiting up to a hundred customers a year, believing that there is a high correlation between relationship-building and customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, if supported by good service.  The same research also highlighted that the senior manager could occasionally be seen as a soft-touch by the customer if they gave away hard-won margin on a contract, which underlines the absolute necessity to treat customer centricity professionally and not believe a few positive customer-focused actions will win hearts and minds.

The service operation has to be heard and understood in the Boardroom, if it is to achieve its primary role of business development (revenue and profit growth) through feedback from the customer to the business. This close alliance with the customer is often referred to as customer intimacy and recognises the role of the customers in helping the supplier to continually improve product quality performance, and increase the relevance and usability of the products to themselves and the customers. The best way of achieving customer intimacy is to gain recognition from the Board that the service operation is not simply a provider of good service and satisfied customers but will generate and contribute to the profit of the business.

Research carried out with a number of the best performing companies; found that the majority of senior managers were visiting up to a hundred customers a year, believing that there is a high correlation between relationship-building and customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, if supported by good service.  The same research also highlighted that the senior manager could occasionally be seen as a soft-touch by the customer if the-y gave away hard-won margin on a contract, which underlines the absolute necessity to treat customer centricity professionally and not believe a few positive customer-focused actions will win hearts and minds.

 The customer interface is no longer able to be simply defined as “all customer facing activities across the business” instead it is best represented by figure 1 which highlights the reality of business relationships: the customer should be able to, and could speak to anyone they believe will help with their problem. 

Most companies realize that the quality of their services can set them apart in the marketplace. To improve service quality, companies are employing a variety of quality programs such as ISO 9000 series certification or Six Sigma improvement methodologies.