Customer Service Is Important

It does not matter if you run an offline or online business or if it is for profit or not for profit, Customer service is important, and in fact if you offer poor customer service all the time your business will fail. And the question is why do we see so many companies and businesses offer poor customer service ?

Here in the UK, we have loads of supermarkets some very small private owned, going through to large mega stalls. Each of these supermarkets or foodshops offer different levels of customer sevice. Some while back, while I was doing research for another project I visted ALL the main supermarkets in our area, and walked in and asked one of the people who worked there where I could find an item of food.

The reaction I got was all over the place…………………. from the person not looking up who said yeah we do right through to yes sir would you like me to show you where it is, or would you like to carry on shopping and I will bring it to you. (Now to make the experiment work, each person I asked was crouched on the floor stacking a shelf – I thought this only fair, and not hard to find in a supermarket).

Now what was the difference in this customer service ? Each person I asked said yes they do stock it, they had answered my question, but some went even further and offered to show me where the item was, right through to be told to carry on shopping and they would get the item and then come and find me in the shop. You could say there were lots of factors that make the difference – the level of pay they get, how their day had gone, and I could go on and on.

Now while each of these Supermarkets knows that Customer Service Is Important, it is how they read into what customer service means. Some of the supermarkets who just said yes we do stock it looked at the fact that offered good food at cheap prices, by working this model they operated on low profits, and staff were paid small wages. If you asked them is Customer Service Important they would say “Yes It Is” we offer good quality food at cheap prices helping people’s money go further.

While the shop where I was told they would come and find me with the item, had good quality food, higher prices and sold top end items. So was this girl just going the extra mile on her. No, she was following company policy. She was there to serve the customer. This company knew that if they did not go that extra mile with a customer they would go out of business. They wanted to make your food shopping a pleasure.

Each supermarket knew that Customer Service Is Important but some just went that bit further, because they knew by offering top notch customer service they would keep their customers, even though their prices were often higher than other supermarket chains.

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant and Trainer Based In Lichfield Staffordshire