Last week, I posted the second part of the series, this is the final episode, enjoy!
I want to make this post as interactive as possible, so bear with me. I have a question here, what's the basis of life?
cell, which is the smallest tiny particle, of which humans have millions of them which make up of everything in their body.
Then everything revolves around you, because you're the life, the brain, the building block, the engine that runs your business. Then the customers are the blood running through the veins of that business.
If all the tips in my previous posts are taken note of, the business will run smoothly. However there's a vital aspect that needs to be given extra attention, your customers.
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all
Michael LeBoeuf
Why do we set up a business? To make gain you said, i quite agree with you. How do we make gains? If we have people to patronise us.
Then, without customers to buy our goods and or services, our businesses can not survive, simple.
That leads us to the basis of this post, which is Customer care services. Many at times we set up a business venture without considering who will buy what we are selling or use our services.
The best customer service is if the customer doesn't need to call you, doesn't need to talk to you, it just happens
Jeff Bezos
Customers or clients as the case may be, are the reason we set up our businesses and after enjoying what we offer, they are supposed to be our marketers, telling others about our products without getting a dime for it.
CUSTOMERS MANAGEMENT
• Never lie to your customers\clients, or else you'll lose their trust
Never lie about the obvious, especially what you don't necessarily need to lie about. For example in advanced countries where there's price control, you can't just inflate the price, but in Nigeria, as a case study, no price control. Business owners tend to extort their customers by inflating the prices, claiming the price of goods and services have skyrocketed. Believe me, they might be partially right, but not in all cases.
It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages
Henry Ford
Last week, I went out to buy groundnut not far from my house, the woman claimed the price has gone up, just for me to get to the main market and discovered that for the past two months, the price is still the same, imagine my disappointment with that person, will I ever trust her again?, HL NO**, I won't. This will also affect my perspective about her and her business. I might still patronise her because of her shop that is not far from my house, but will never refer any other person to her.
•Never take your customers\clients for granted
Where you're the only one in town, enjoy your monopoly, though not an excuse to take the client for granted, but you might get away with it. Try it when you have competitions, then your business might just 'go-under'.
Gone are the days when we had almost only one tecommunications company here in Nigeria (the other was not functioning well), there was nothing like per second billing, even if you used one second, the value for one minute (60seconds) will be deducted from your airtime. To get one SIM cost thousands of Naira and network coverage was so poor. Customers' complaints were not taken serious. As others joined in, many changes were experienced . In fact some of them will even call to ask how you're enjoying their services and request for your complaints. Imagine that.
•Never exceed your Turn-around time
As difficult as beating the time of delivery may seem, NEVER exceed it. Keeping to time is the soul of your business. Having too many customers to service at the same time, might be difficult. It will surely affect meeting the time you promised to deliver.
Knowing the Turn-around time is very important, it'll give you the idea of how many clients you can service per time.
We have several fashion designers that will surely disappoint. In fact clients have learnt to lie about the time they need their dresses, just to mention one.
•Go the extra Mile for your client
Do you really care about your customers'welfare? As much as possible, try to be a good friend to your clients. Know their birthdays, celebrate their wedding anniversary, know the names of their kids. Some might be passing through difficult times, cry with them, give them good pieces of advice. When they're happy, celebrate with them. Make sure you're part of their lives. I know you're not obliged to do all these, but they work.
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
I could remember a customer accused the bank I was working with then of not caring for their customers, reason?, They failed to send a birthday message to her, you can imagine that.
•Never disclose their details
Confidentiality of your clients should not be taken with levity hand, but seriously. Why must you discuss the details of your clients' transactions with your friends or other customers. How will they feel if they learnt what people are talking about was heard from you? Bad you said. There are some professions that disclosing clients 'everytime details is against their ethics, but even if you're not a medical doctor, a dentist, an accountant, a banker or a security personnel, DO NOT carelessly release their information.
There was a relationship manager who carelessly disclosed the account balance of one of his customers, not knowing armed robbers were there in the bar. His son was kidnapped and they were telling him authoritatively his account details. After the whole incident, the kidnappers were apprehended, while they were interrogated they confessed how they got his information. You can imagine the amount the bank paid for in damages when the victim sued them.
No one knows the cost of a defective product. Don't tell me you do. You know the cost of replacing it, but not the cost of a dissatisfied customer.
W. Edwards Denning
The point is, when you treat your customers like kings and queens, they become your mouth piece, your advocates, your evangelists. In fact, they turn to your marketers and your business blooms. If treated badly, the news travels like wild fire and it might even kill the business because they'll express their frustration beyond your control, unfortunately you won't be there to defend yourself or tell your own side of the story.
Remember, a happy customer is your marketer.
Thanks for reading and see you at the top!
Thanks so much @anikekirsten and @beekerst for editing the second part of this series, I'll never take your kindness for granted. Hope I've made you proud....winks
All the editors of @thewritersblock, your kind gestures are duly appreciated. Though I've gone AWOL for sometime now, but I'm still @mattyabo, always ready to learn!
All pictures from pixabay