ADVOCATE COLUMN 4th WEEK JUNE 2012

New Zealand Chambers of Commerce Northland has long advocated for businesses to provide consistent and high quality service. It is all about exceeding the customer’s expectations. We are all aware of businesses that offer poor or inconsistent quality of service and how consumers react to them. I raise this because recently I experienced the same low level of customer service that so many of us have to endure all too regularly. My wife had given the local branch of a national department store a reasonable sum of money in return for them supplying us with a bed. The bed wasn’t in stock at the time so they advised they would have it in stock within seven days or at the very least let us know when we could collect it. Needless to say none of this happened and was accompanied by total lack of interest in us once we had parted with our money. This column is not long enough to detail the various ways our expectations were not met. However I know money is important to them because I stood in front of one counter for several minutes waiting to enquire about the whereabouts of the bed while the assistant did her best to pretend I was not there while she discussed her own personal finances with someone on the other end of the phone. A customer has the right to expect a consistently high quality of service from well-informed; well trained people who are enthusiastic about the product or service that they are delivering. These values will be driven by the business owner. They will be the ones who make who ensure the right staff are hired and are given the appropriate training. That training will focus on developing confident service staff who recognise the importance of selling to the consumer and creating an ongoing relationship with them. The owner must also construct a business framework that enables the staff to fulfil their potential and do their job without physical and procedural boundaries. That is that customer relations are managed and supply chains are robust enough that the business can do what it says it does. Finally the owner is tasked with ensuring all within the business understand his or her vision and what it is that they want the customer to experience. This is the story that the consumer will take away with them and tell their friends.