There’s nothing wrong with clichés, when used appropriately and with conviction. This is particularly true with customer service. We have all heard that the “Customer is King” but what does that actually mean and does anybody really believe that?
At Public-i we have been having a good look at our customer experience. Not only the webcasting or the engagement and transformation services we offer, but the total experience. This then leads to a somewhat larger question – what is good customer service?
As luck would have it, we’re all customers of some form or another so we all know what we expect as customers. Whether it’s at the local butchers or dealing with the service desk of a large telecommunications business we all know what frustrates us and, sometimes, what pleases us.
Strangely enough it all comes down to that word engagement again. Good customer service is based on listening and doing something about what the customer is saying. Then when you’ve listened to the customer and agreed what will happen next keep him informed of progress. It’s not rocket science is it? Nor is it original thinking but it’s certainly a way to differentiate in a positive way.
We all know when we’ve had good customer service and usually that is because there has been plenty of dialogue with an acceptance that there is a problem, a good explanation of why it happened, what’s been done to fix it and when normal service will be restored.
At Public-i we’re very proud of what we do and regard our customers highly. We’re committed to listening to our customers and looking for ways to keep on improving. That way we’ll continue to provide…yada, yada, yada. Yes, this is exactly the kind of thing you’d expect a CEO to say about customer service. You’ve read it thousands of times but however rehearsed it might seem that doesn’t mean it isn’t absolutely sincere. Customer service is an integral part of Public-i’s culture, not because we pay lip service to the concept but because we truly believe that giving our customers a great experience is how we differentiate our brand.
In our efforts to concentrate on customer service, there’s plenty of action underway now. Firstly, we welcomed Emma Redfern in the spring. An experienced service desk manager, Emma is looking at how we can improve the service we deliver to clients for webcasting.
Additionally we are hiring two new account managers –the first, Kisoran Moodley, has already joined – which will help to significantly bolster our already excellent account management. This is just the start of our efforts to make sure customer service is front and centre of what we do.
Perhaps one of the biggest advertisements for good customer service came from Ryanair, a company notorious for having little concern for its customers. Last year it made a conscious decision to change this approach and guess what? Sales and profits are up. There may be something to listening to the customer after all, as CEO Michael O’Leary reflected when he said “We should have been nicer to customers earlier than we have been.”
Who’d have thought?
