Think As Inc

THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

September 3, 2009 on 2:19 am | In life coaching | 4 Comments

Quite often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves. – Akbarali H. Jetha 

Does that quote resonate with you?  Or perhaps it reminds you of your complaining friend who whines about everything without ever mentioning his role in the problem.  Remember:  your life is your business; your relationships, professional and personal, represent clients.  What you get from them is in exchange for what you give.  If there is a problem, you need to be part of the solution.

We see this in everyday business, when we buy and are therefore clients to someone else.  Our cable service is fuzzy, so we complain to customer service, and depending on the way we are treated, we continue being clients or we take our business elsewhere.  We recognize the importance of customer service when we are customers.  How effective is our customer service to people who “buy” from us? 

Your boss indicates several areas of improvement during your annual review.  Be glad that she is so forthcoming.  Welcome the chance to show how adaptable you are.  Great companies realize that customer complaints are an opportunity.  They identify an unmet need.  They give the company a chance to prove itself in adversity.  Are you ready to take advantage of the opportunity your boss’ feedback offers?  If you haven’t gotten feedback lately, ask for it.

Thinking of your relationships as clients doesn’t mean that they become transactional.  These are still relationships – dynamic, changing, and therefore open to problems.  Even if the initial exchange was smooth, the relationship may change.  You need to be vigilant that you are continually meeting the needs of your clients.  You need to have an internal customer service operation that seeks out feedback and adjusts where problems arise.  You can of course always walk away.  Even good businesses drop certain clients.

But the solution may not always be to quit your job or get new friends.  You may just need to provide better customer service.