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Managing client and customer relationships
17 January 2007
What an evocative topic. Customer or client service (along with communication and sex) seems to be one of those topics of which we are all self-proclaimed experts. We all know our customers or our clients better than anyone else and we always give them an excellent service, don’t we?
Sadly, the reality may be somewhat different. The recent Jersey Evening Post headline about Jersey’s position relative to other parts of the UK on customer service did not make particularly good reading. Perception being what it is, the fact that the adverse publicity can be attributed to one or two isolated incidents is largely ignored.
That doesn’t apply to me, I hear you say – I work in a different sector! That’s all well and good but the fact remains, whether we work in Finance or Retail or any of the other sectors of business within the Channel Islands, we actually all share a collective responsibility for how our Islands are viewed from afar.
The sensible thing to do, when faced with this kind of headline, is to make sure our own ‘customer care’ house is in order.
That means we ask our clients what they think of the service we give them and I’m not talking about seeking written feedback. As a valued client or customer, I am worth more than this.
I want someone to care enough about me as an individual that they will find an opportunity to ask me how I feel face-to-face and not through some convenient, tick the box questionnaire.
After all, our clients and our customers are people first and foremost. Paradoxically, as the world relies more and more on technology based communication, people instinctively crave the opposite - which is to say, they seek more and more face-to-face contact with fellow members of the human race.
We want to be kept in the loop!
But it doesn’t stop there. We want to detect from their tone of voice and their body language that really do care; that they genuinely want to help us and are truly sorry if they fall short of expectations.
When was the last time you thought: – wow - that person genuinely cares about me as an individual – I’m not being fobbed off with the ‘staff manual’ definition of customer service . I suspect it is a rare event!
Analysing the way we behave is a complex topic.
In my opinion, part of the problem locally may be to do with National pride. Like it or not, we in the Channel Islands are now a cosmopolitan workforce with a number of cultures and nationalities working in our service industries.
All of these good people have somewhere they call home and most of the time, it isn’t Jersey or Guernsey. We may like to believe that everyone who lives and works here is proud and that they demonstate this in their day-to-day behaviour but that isn’t always the case.
So what then is the solution? The only way we can ensure that all our clients and those that visit the Island are treated to uniformly good levels of customer service is to:
1. Ensure those in customer facing roles are happy and engaged at work, such that customers can detect their enthusiasm and commitment.
2. Train or coach the right behaviours such that good customer service becomes second nature.
One without the other runs the risk of failing. Sending someone on a customer care course without ensuring their work experience mirrors what they have learnt is largely a waste of resources. Equally, engaging happy staff without explaining and coaching the individual as to what is expected in a client facing role is also likely to fall short of what is expected.
One final thought. As customers or clients, we want to be listened to. How often do we pepper the poor client with lists of the products or services we offer without first respectfully allowing the client to talk about themselves, their families and their business.
Perhaps we actually need to give our customers and clients a damned good listening to!
