Building an effective customer service culture in an organization

Management must first imbibe a customer centric culture which recognizes the significance of the customer in all operations so much that even departments that do not interact with them are also focused on the customer, delivering the best service from product design to launch.

In customer service “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” -Sam Walton

Forward thinking organizations allocate a robust budget on research just to gain as much information about their customers so that they can provide them with suitable products and services.

Apart from seeking for their customers’ wants, tastes, motivations and how buying decisions are made, they create marketing campaigns to drive purchase of these products.

All these efforts are because customers are the lifeblood of a business. No customer, no business! Customers bring in the revenue that keeps the business afloat-employees get salaries; government get taxes, etc.

At the same time, they could bring loss to a business because of their ability to boycott and influence others to do so especially with the power of social media.

For instance, last year Snapchat, (a global mobile multi messaging app used to share short lasting pictures or videos) was reported to have lost almost two billion dollars when on different occasions, Kylie Jenner and Rihanna influenced a boycott, one over dissatisfaction and the other over offensive advertisement. Customers have so much power now than ever before.

Recent research on customer behavior reports that an unsatisfied customer will tell up to fifteen people about their experience. And, the reason for customer churn out is not mainly price, but poor service.

Customers also bring good deed because when happy, their referrals and recommendations result in multiple customers, making for expansion and even more revenue streams.

A business that aims to remain vibrant for a very long time must take its customers very seriously, and this goes beyond solving complaints, or about its representatives being friendly.