E-mail comments, suggestions, or questions to 
president@sittcom.com
and we'll practice what we teach.
Thanks,
Dr. Connie Sitterly
Certified Professional Consultant to Management

If keeping an existing customer is five times cheaper than getting a new one, how well do we value our customers?  Since actions are determined  by our attitudes, you may assess your attitudes about customers by responding true or false to these statements:

T   F 1.  The customer- internal or external is still No. 1 business issue and marketing strategy.
T   F 2.  Customers include co-workers and suppliers, too.
T   F 3.  External service is usually no better that the internal service.
T   F 4.  Customers are the most important people in the business.
T   F 5.  Customers are the reason we get a paycheck.

If you answered false to any statement, reread it - daily.  Everyone has customers, even though we assign them different names like guests, clients, students, taxpayers, suppliers/vendors, departments, or co-workers.

Internal customers are the next users of our products and services (and vice versa).  For example, a secretary is the manager's customer; accounting is a customer of the purchasing department.  External customers are purchasers of the products and services as well as vendors and suppliers.

The product or service isn't good until the customer, internal or external, says it's good.  That's why businesses that do survive, profit and grow are those that give customers what they want, when they want it and how they want it.  If you're wondering what "it" is, just ask a customer, listen and respond.

Customer service isn't just the job of the customer service department or the customer service representative.  It's everbodys.  Have you ever had to bypass a "customer service" department to get a problem solved?  Have you ever NOT received a response from customer service "comments"?

Sixty eight percent of external customers leave because someone was rude, indifferent, or discourteous!    I'll bet those 'disinterested personnel' are also rude, indifferent, and discourteous to their employees, each other, as well  vendors and suppliers. It's why, when a customer has a bad experience, he or she will tell six to nine people, two out of three won't be back and management will never know why.

 To  deliver better service,  here are ten simple guidelines:

1. Know your customers, internal and external.  Profile them; Note what matters- hobbies, interests, quirks or concerns, communication, workstyle, and more.

2. Follow-up.  Ensure -- never assume -- that your customer is completely satisfied.  Keeping an external customer is five times cheaper than winning a new one.  Replacing an employee can cost two and one-half times their salary.

3. Never underestimate a customer- internal or external- because of sex, age, race, title or appearance or other factors.  Everyone knows someone and even without cash, influence comes in a strong second.

4. Support your customers by purchasing their products and services and referring others to them.  Taking care of the people and businesses that take care of us is just good business.   Treating vendors or suppliers like disposable commodities reflects poorly on the entire organization, and is just bad business.  Potentially, they can have far-reaching contacts, information, resources, and referrals.

5. Although e-mailing your appreciation is better than nothing, a handwritten personal thank you may score even better.  It's the mail that gets opened first, read at a meeting, and posted on the bulletin board.

6. Know who you work for: your customers, internal and external.  Ultimately your customer is your boss and your boss' boss.

7. Model a positive, proactive attitude, and impeccable courtesy to all customers, including but not limited to co-workers, employees, vendors, suppliers as well as 'paying' customers.  Expect and educate every employee to do the same.  The image of your business is only as good as you and your employees, individually and collectively.  Discourtesy can destroy thousands of marketing and advertising dollars in one brief encounter eroding trust, goodwill, and credibility.

8. Respect your customer's time.  If you say you need 20 minutes, take 18.  Prioritize topics and be prepared.  Don't unnecessarily interrupt them or expect them to remind you.  Return phone calls.  You may need them next week, they need you now.

9. Never assume you will keep their business or your position or take them for granted. Two factors are certain; change is constant and competition is real.

10. Treat the customer, internal or external, as the most important person and better use of your time.

Customers are the reason we're in business.  We depend on them.  We're not doing them a favor.  Our job is to meet their needs, help solve their problems, answer their questions, take next-step actions, focusing on our common goals. They deserve our most courteous and capable efforts in every area, every effort, every time.  Customer's opinions about our work are our most valuable asset because the only true measure of success is a totally satisfied customer.

At work, everyone is a customer.  When you accept information or work from a co-worker, you are a customer.  When you provide it to someone else, they are your customer.

Questions:
1. How can we clarify internal customers' expectations and requirements to prevent errors, duplication, or misunderstandings?
2. Who are your three primary internal customers?
3. How can you improve service to them?
4. How can they improve service to you?
5. Have you provided continuous internal/external service training for all employees and managers?
6. Do you set strategic service improvement goals at every level, function and position?
7. Is service integrated into orientation, job descriptions and appraisals, bonuses, recognition-reward and promotion criteria?
8. How can I/we demonstrate greater reliability, responsiveness, and credibility; provide what our customers want without error, reminders or excuses, asking "what else can I do?" and doing it.

As an example, here are a few of my personal Crazymaker service experiences:

*Car dealership. Call three times and leave messages to order a new car.  No return calls.

*Airline.  "We lost your bags, and don't know where they went.  Here's a toothbrush and an 800#."

*Cleaners. Can't find two shirts.  Announced, "mistakes happen.  We're not perfect."  No shirts, no credit, no reimbursement, no return business.

*Phone company. Bill showed services not authorized.  Assured they would be removed.  Next bill, same thing.  Call again.  No record of the request.

*Service company. Icemaker in refrigerator no longer functions due to connection to replaced hot water heater which Daryll, Daryll, and Daryll installed improperly.  Their comment, "We don't repair icemakers."

©2001 Sittcom, Inc.
Sittcom, Inc.
P.O. Box 470695
Fort Worth, TX 76147
817 737-2893 Fax 817 737-7517
e-mail: president@sittcom.com

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