The Customer Rules

If you are in business, understanding who you are ultimately answerable to is important. This is particularly so in the service industry where the product is often intangible and abstract. In such cases it is harder to measure whether a client’s needs are being satisfied, unlike in a business where people buy a physical product which immediately fulfils their needs or wants.

Mission and vision statements gain more importance in such instances as a guide to understanding what the overall benefits of your business to your clients are. Furthermore without some kind of guiding principles in such a business it is difficult to know what standard of service you are aiming for. Your service becomes inconsistent and may fall short of the desires of your clients.

A horrible wedding experience
Recently, I attended a wedding at which I was put in charge of helping with certain logistical issues for the day. It did not take long for me to start feeling a little disappointed with the owners and management of the lodge as they did not seem at all interested in ensuring that their guests and the bridal party in particular were comfortable and had everything they required.

The staff and management did nothing without first complaining about it. At every request they made it a point to let me know that the people that had hired the venue had not requested for this or for that service from them. The fact that outside caterers and waiters had been called in seemed to be a particularly thorny issue for them.

The lodge owners themselves seemed more interested in watching the wedding procession and taking photographs than in ensuring that their guests were comfortable and well taken care of.

The icing on the cake of this poor service was something very shocking and quite uncalled for on their part. They persisted, immediately after the reception, to insist that the bride and groom pay for a function they were planning to have the following day at the same venue, despite the fact the newly-wed couple were spending the night at the lodge and surely the matter could have waited until morning. Furthermore they accused them of having not paid for this and for that whilst it was very clear that the things had not been included in the fees, a mistake that was made by them.

Despite efforts by myself and other guests to reason with them, they seemed intent on one thing - to get all the money they could get off the couple that very evening, never mind that it was their wedding night.

Several people tried to explain to them that what they were doing was not in order and that they could have chosen a better time to do it. Furthermore, it was against good customer service and etiquette to harass people they way they were doing. But greed, pride and short-sightedness seemed to have the better of them.

In the end the bride was almost in tears and the groom nearly fighting with the owner to apologise for upsetting his dear wife, which he eventually did after much pushing. But it was too late. The damage had been done. All arrangements for the following evening’s function were abandoned. I had to leave before things got out of hand because my patience was slowly fading, particularly after the lady owner pointed her finger at me and made some threatening remarks when I pointed out to her that she could have handled things better.

Understand why you are in business
Clearly, here was a business that did not understand its business. They seemed to think they were in the business of making money and that was their whole aim and focus. The fact is, as a lodge and as a business in the hospitality industry they should have realised that their business should have been to serve people. It should have been to make their clients feel at home and cared for.

If people feel that you make them the most important part of your business they will not mind paying you a little extra for the excellent service and will not doubt your sincerity and intentions when you demand a little extra money so you can cater for their every wish. Business philosopher Peter Drucker said “Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.”

Had the owners and management of that lodge had known that, they would have made it a priority to keep their guests happy instead of harassing them for every last kwacha they could squeeze out of them, whilst offering the very minimal service they offered.

Relationships are the lifeblood of a succeful business
Relationships are the lifeblood of any good business. It is these relationships that keep people coming back to you for a service or product and these relationships that get you referrals for more clients. Walt Disney advised that you “do what you do so well that they willwant to see it again and bring their friends.” I doubt that the lodge in question will get any referrals from the people that witnessed their behaviour and I am very certain that none of them will be going back there even if it were the last lodge left in the country.

Whatever business you do you should consider that you are in the people business. This applies equally whether you are in business for yourself or employed. Without the people to buy what you have to offer it won’t matter how great a service or product you are offering.

Customers want to know how you can make their lives better or easier or how you can relieve their pain. Customer service can make or break your business because your entire business and profits depend on your customers. You generate profits by selling your products and services to people who need or want to buy. That is why the customer is king.

Finally, you would do well to remember the wisdom of Sam Walton who said: "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."