With these two incidents I began to wonder how it is that: one,
small entrepreneurs seek to be given jobs that they do not have
the capacity to handle; and two how they manage to get by
with lousy customer service and orientation.
Truth be told, I was satisfied that both jobs were finished not
to the quality I would have wanted but at least my money did
not disappear. Bottomline, I did get services for my money.
Question is if I would give reference to the two craftsmen to a
friend or business partner or even want to engage them again.
In this entrepreneurial generation, the grandest failure
emanates not from the product or service, but from the
customer orientation of those delivering the service or selling
the product. Majority of the business people are more interested
in securing the deal that has a lot of money and they are willing
to cut as many corners as possible to retain maximum profit and
not necessarily deliver on their word.
As an entrepreneur, there is need to always remember that
without process, your business can get by, without large
overheads and a large team, yes it can still stay afloat, but without
customers, you cannot start, sustain or grow. Customers are the
core of any business in the market place. Great businesses have
loyal customers, mediocre businesses have satisfied customers,
malnutritioned businesses have customers!
So what kind of diet should you be on to move from
malnutritioned to great business?
Hold your name above everything else. Mention the word
‘apple’ and you are likely to get one of two responses; “the
expensive fruit” or “the expensive gadgets”. Just reading
through a lot of material, I have gathered overtime that Apple
(the company) revenues and profits thrive through their loyal
customers. Once you go apple, there is no turning back and
their clientele know that and they are willing to pay the price. I
am yet to meet an iPhone, iPad, MacBook or Macintosh desktop
user who has something against the brand. Your name as a
business is your face. It is what existing customers remember
every time, it is what potential customers see for the first time
and it is what you are every day. It is imperative that it is good
if you are going to grow your client base and ultimately your
revenue base.
Maintain a hard-to-leave customer retention policy. The
difference between a policy and a program is that a program
implies a timed lifespan, it will come to an end. Policy on the
other hand suggests that it is part of the core for the existence
of the business. Loyal customers do not stay because they
have no other option. They stay because you are the best and
they would rather be inconvenienced in other areas but have
you serve them in that one area. Loyalty is not forced. It is
willfully pledged. The place I have seen this exemplified best
is in barbershops. Most men are very particular how they are
shaved and once they find a barber who applies the razor the
way they like, even if they go on a Saturday afternoon and found
a queue of 100 , they will be glad to wait or go home and come
back the next day just to be shaved by that barber. Now that is
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Esteemed Magazine July -August 2015
loyalty because the service rendered cannot be got elsewhere.
Have a working feedback system. This is a system that allows
you to effectively receive feedback from the clients, follow up on
resolution/ actions taken from your end and resolving the issue
with the customer. The system should also enable you have
frequent communication with your customer e.g. reminding
them it is time for an upgrade, or cleaning, or change etc.
Don’t promise. Don’t compromise. Commit and Over
Deliver. If you commit to do a certain job, chances are that
the customer expects at minimum, his expectations to be met. I
give you my car to wash, I expect a clean car. Picking a job that
you do not have the capacity for simply points to greed and
selfishness. You can’t promise a clean car in one hour if you only
have one sprayer and one member of staff and 30 cars waiting
in queue to be washed. It is a sad day when a customer says, you
didn’t do the job I wanted and the first words that com