IT’S ALL GOOD
HOW MAY WE BE OF
SERVICE?
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE FOUNDATION OF A CUSTOMER
LOYALTY PROGRAMME. JOYCE MONSON LOOKS AT
THE FUNDAMENTAL MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS OF
CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT HELP EXPEDITE LOYALTY.
T
he focus of customer loyalty has
shifted from points and perks
to engaging people and creating
customer experiences that engender
loyal relationships. Customer service
is fundamental to a meaningful
customer experience and it starts way before point
of sale. Everyone in the organisation has a stake in
good customer service, but does everyone know
how to deliver?
If your staff don’t know what good customer
service looks like, you can’t expect them to practise it,
and no amount of technology will fix that. So here’s
46 R E WA R D S & L O YA LT Y S A
a brief lesson from a man who should know – Koos
Jérard Louw, corporate etiquette and international
protocol trainer, and advisor:
Question: What are the basic elements of good
customer service?
Answer: Good manners.
There you have it. Easy. And as a refresher
on what good manners look like, he continues,
“Behaving with good manners is simply showing
respect. Address people correctly. Ask yourself
how you make people feel with your approach
and tone.” Also easy. There’s just no excuse for
bad customer service.
How satisfied are South African consumers?
Overall, we’re pretty well satisfied,
according to results of the 2015 South
African Consumer Satisfaction Index. The
index consolidates the results of research
across 21 industries and 118 brands with
a sample of 51 000 respondents. A few
highlights include:
• The top five brands overall for 2015 were
Wimpy; Nando’s; Chicken Licken; KFC;
and Apple.
• Capitec came out on top in the banking
category and also captured one of the
highest customer-satisfaction scores in
the country.
• Momentum Health had the highest
industry score for handling complaints
satisfactorily and also scored a high
fairness perception among customers.
Before you can engage your customers, you have
to engage your entire staff, customer facing or not.
Everyone. Customer service is as much a mind-set as
it is an action – and it’s intangible, but powerful, when
it’s entrenched in the corporate DNA. But you need to
start the cycle with the people on the frontline. Great
customer service starts with engaged, impassioned,
loyal employees empowered to deliver it. You need to
make an employee/customer connection.
MILLENNIALS AND OTHER CHALLENGES
Ever impatient, always connected, millennials
will force a change in the way service is delivered.