By Keith Wright is a highly respected international entrepreneur advising businesses on procurement solutions and on many occasions saving A LOT of money. Keith really goes deep on good and bad customer service in a story telling article that is a must read. Thought provoking and insightful to the end!
“I went on a fabulous family holiday last summer to the beautiful town of Kalkan, Turkey. With time to reflect, the break got me thinking about my experiences of good and bad practices in relation to customer service and the supply chain.
Why, you may ask?
Well firstly, reflection time is always a great place to start. I also encountered many wonderful people; kind, caring, hardworking and dedicated to their country’s visitors.
Their attention to me, my family and friends was impeccable throughout my 11 days, and there was nothing that was too much trouble for the wonderful people of Kalkan.
We dined out in several the breath-taking rooftop restaurants and my favourite quote from one restaurant owner was:
‘When you visit our country, we do not see you as just tourists. We welcome you as one of our family. If you are happy then I am happy”
Now that’s a way to make someone feel special and welcome – real charisma, charm, and warmth.
We used the home takeaway service to our villa one evening from one of several local restaurants – all delivered to our door freshly cooked in under an hour via a local delivery man on a moped! Sound familiar? Perhaps this was the early version of Deliveroo – broadening the market beyond the busy local cobbled streets of Kalkan Old Town.
When it comes to good practice, these are just a couple of examples that stood out for me and peaked my interest.
Now imagine you are a service lead business (hard to think of many that wouldn’t be these days!) Perhaps you have agreed sales or performance targets with your customers? What about contractual obligations around lead times or service standards, maybe even with the risk of financial penalties for failing to achieve them? I bet that your business is fully committed to delivering outstanding customer service to your clients, but how confident can you really be that you’ll always deliver?
Thinking about your supply chain, do you have similar commitments in place with your vendors or suppliers that in effect “have your back”? Do you have clear business plans, agreed targets and objectives and if so, are they regularly reviewed, measured, and challenged to ensure they remain fit for purpose and relevant? Do you have signed contracts that set out those agreed standards? What about a service level agreement and a sales forecast to ensure there are no surprises and that your mission to deliver outstanding service to your customers is always at the top of its game?
You might be surprised at how many businesses I talk to that can’t answer “yes” to the above questions, which for me is a bit like trying to swim upriver with one arm tied behind your back, yet these same businesses are being held to account by their customers.
I have always loved the Peter Drucker quote “what gets measured gets managed” and believe that in business, no-one likes surprises. My challenge to you therefore is to take a step back, have a long hard look at your customer service expectations, and get to work on anything that looks ambiguous, ill-defined or at best, left to chance or interpretation.
When it comes to being the best and looking after your customers, the people of Kalkan have definitely got this right, what about you and your business?”
www.kwrightconsultancy.co.uk www.linkedin.com/in/keith-wright-4aa823a8
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