Social media has become one of the most powerful
innovations and dominant forces in business today. The frontline player in this
growing phenomenon has for some time now been Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerburg
and his friends at Harvard University in 2004. The social network site provides
a perfect solution for people of all ages, especially the youth and those
in the economically active bracket, to connect with ‘friends’ all over the
world in interactions about business, academic, social and several other areas.
Facebook has continued to rapidly grow its client base because people wish to retain and grow their friendships and relationships across geographical and other borders. As of 2012, the network had over one billion subscribers with statistics pointing to over 552 million daily active users on average. The site has over 300 million photos uploaded each day. There are over 100 billion friendships on the network. Considering its user population in 2012, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous in the world after China and India. These numbers will continue to change and the extent of future growth of social media may be unclear today. One thing is however certain. Anyone who delivers the right product or service to meet a pressing need in the marketplace and continually improves the quality of service to make it more responsive to the needs of their identified customers will enjoy sustained business success.
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. - Michael LeBoeuf
KYC has become a very important acronym in the banking and finance industry as well as others that deal with customers on a regular basis. The term KYC in this regard does not refer to the fast food chain but to the term “Know Your Customer.” An intimate knowledge of your customers and their needs coupled with a readiness to meet them is a prerequisite for business success. Who really is a customer? Why is the customer so important? Does the ideal customer vary from business to business? These are some of the questions that will be answered in this chapter.
Here Comes The Customer
According to Wikipedia.com “A customer (also known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier for a monetary or other valuable consideration.” Many times when people refer to customers they mean the organisation’s external customers. An external customer is not directly connected to the organisation. A passenger who travels on an airline or a listener who tunes in to a radio station is an external customer. However, there are also internal customers. An internal customer is one who is directly connected to an organisation. A person’s internal customers are usually stakeholders, employees, or shareholders who are part of the organisation but who use the services of a person or function in that organisation. A presenter in a radio station uses the services of his producer or technical crew. He or she depends on them for quality service and is therefore their internal customer.
BusinessDictionary.com introduces the dimension of choice when it describes a customer as, “A party that receives or consumes products (goods or services) and has the ability to choose between different products and suppliers.” This simply presupposes that your customer is anyone who experiences your services and also has the ability to go elsewhere if dissatisfied. The power of choice implies that any venture that downplays or ignores the needs of its customers could easily find itself on the downward slide. Indeed, a business without customers will soon be either broke or dead or both. As Harvey MacKay says, “There is place in the world for any business that takes care of its customers – after the sale.”
My Customer, My World!!!
There is a positive relationship between the ability to offer superior service to one’s clients and your organisation’s prosperity or continued stay in business. Several leading authorities in business, religion, politics and philosophy have stressed the link between customer satisfaction and business longevity. Perhaps one of the most notable references is attributed to management guru Peter Drucker, who says, “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” John Woods supports this assertion when he says, “The purpose of a business is to create a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and those that it serves. When it does that well, it will be around tomorrow to do it some more.”
It’s a Lifestyle!!!
Customer Service is more than a business cliché. It is a lifestyle. Is it only businesses or commercial interests that have customers? Absolutely not! Every endeavour that involves providing a service to someone else can be said to have customers. That includes schools, not-for-profit organisations, political parties and churches. One of the most interesting examples of customer relationships can be found in churches. In addition to business examples, a considerable portion of this book will be devoted to the operation of customer service in churches and the parallels that can be drawn with the corporate world. We will study how different churches attract different kinds of patrons. Who the exact customer is varies from person to person and from organisation to organisation. It is therefore incumbent upon each one to painstakingly identify who they are principally set up to serve.
Defining Your Customer
Few organisations take time to analyse the demographic or social features of those who demand or patronise their services. Many simply operate based on an assumption or false premise and could operate for years without knowing where their bread is buttered. Every business must deliberately define who their customers are and what they need. The only way you can serve your customers with distinction is to identify them, understand their needs and commit to meeting and exceeding their expectations.
“The first step in exceeding your customer's expectations is to know those expectations.” - Roy H. Williams
Whether you know it or not you may have already defined a certain category of people as preferred customers by the choices your organisation has made over the years. Your business model automatically defines your ideal customer. A real estate company that builds condominiums in a plush high class residential area cannot suggest that it is targeting the ordinary working class. That will be catered for by those who build low-cost, affordable units in the outer communities. The broadcast language, location, slogan or even the kind of presenters a radio station hires, will automatically determine who listens to their broadcasts. A station may profess to be targeting the youth but their consistent playing of “Old School” music or timeless jazz classics could be much more appealing to a different age bracket. The result is brand confusion as your customers are left unsure of what you stand for and what they should expect from you.
Customer-centrism
If the customer is that important then his or her needs must be taken into consideration in every major decision that governs the business. Anyone obsessed with providing superior customer service can be called a customer-centric person or organisation. The choice of name, location, service offering, menu, prices and every other aspect of the business plan must aim at ensuring customer satisfaction. That would mean listening to what the customers are saying rather than what you believe to be their need.
A South African restaurant franchise set up in Ghana years ago and introduced the concept of drive-through service, which at the time was a novelty. The market responded appropriately with hordes of patrons flocking to their eatery. After the initial flurry, the feedback was that the restricted menu and the seasoning of the food were unfamiliar and were therefore not connecting to the predominantly-Ghanaian palate. The company failed to respond quickly ostensibly because it was a franchise and was keen on standardising the experience across all locations. The numbers declined and drifted to other restaurants till the company eventually responded by introducing a number of Ghanaian dishes on its menu. By then it was too late. The company was soon compelled by low patronage to close down its operations. A truly customer-centric business actively solicits customer feedback to ensure that it gets it right on all fronts.
Facebook has continued to rapidly grow its client base because people wish to retain and grow their friendships and relationships across geographical and other borders. As of 2012, the network had over one billion subscribers with statistics pointing to over 552 million daily active users on average. The site has over 300 million photos uploaded each day. There are over 100 billion friendships on the network. Considering its user population in 2012, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous in the world after China and India. These numbers will continue to change and the extent of future growth of social media may be unclear today. One thing is however certain. Anyone who delivers the right product or service to meet a pressing need in the marketplace and continually improves the quality of service to make it more responsive to the needs of their identified customers will enjoy sustained business success.
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. - Michael LeBoeuf
KYC has become a very important acronym in the banking and finance industry as well as others that deal with customers on a regular basis. The term KYC in this regard does not refer to the fast food chain but to the term “Know Your Customer.” An intimate knowledge of your customers and their needs coupled with a readiness to meet them is a prerequisite for business success. Who really is a customer? Why is the customer so important? Does the ideal customer vary from business to business? These are some of the questions that will be answered in this chapter.
Here Comes The Customer
According to Wikipedia.com “A customer (also known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier for a monetary or other valuable consideration.” Many times when people refer to customers they mean the organisation’s external customers. An external customer is not directly connected to the organisation. A passenger who travels on an airline or a listener who tunes in to a radio station is an external customer. However, there are also internal customers. An internal customer is one who is directly connected to an organisation. A person’s internal customers are usually stakeholders, employees, or shareholders who are part of the organisation but who use the services of a person or function in that organisation. A presenter in a radio station uses the services of his producer or technical crew. He or she depends on them for quality service and is therefore their internal customer.
BusinessDictionary.com introduces the dimension of choice when it describes a customer as, “A party that receives or consumes products (goods or services) and has the ability to choose between different products and suppliers.” This simply presupposes that your customer is anyone who experiences your services and also has the ability to go elsewhere if dissatisfied. The power of choice implies that any venture that downplays or ignores the needs of its customers could easily find itself on the downward slide. Indeed, a business without customers will soon be either broke or dead or both. As Harvey MacKay says, “There is place in the world for any business that takes care of its customers – after the sale.”
My Customer, My World!!!
There is a positive relationship between the ability to offer superior service to one’s clients and your organisation’s prosperity or continued stay in business. Several leading authorities in business, religion, politics and philosophy have stressed the link between customer satisfaction and business longevity. Perhaps one of the most notable references is attributed to management guru Peter Drucker, who says, “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” John Woods supports this assertion when he says, “The purpose of a business is to create a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and those that it serves. When it does that well, it will be around tomorrow to do it some more.”
It’s a Lifestyle!!!
Customer Service is more than a business cliché. It is a lifestyle. Is it only businesses or commercial interests that have customers? Absolutely not! Every endeavour that involves providing a service to someone else can be said to have customers. That includes schools, not-for-profit organisations, political parties and churches. One of the most interesting examples of customer relationships can be found in churches. In addition to business examples, a considerable portion of this book will be devoted to the operation of customer service in churches and the parallels that can be drawn with the corporate world. We will study how different churches attract different kinds of patrons. Who the exact customer is varies from person to person and from organisation to organisation. It is therefore incumbent upon each one to painstakingly identify who they are principally set up to serve.
Defining Your Customer
Few organisations take time to analyse the demographic or social features of those who demand or patronise their services. Many simply operate based on an assumption or false premise and could operate for years without knowing where their bread is buttered. Every business must deliberately define who their customers are and what they need. The only way you can serve your customers with distinction is to identify them, understand their needs and commit to meeting and exceeding their expectations.
“The first step in exceeding your customer's expectations is to know those expectations.” - Roy H. Williams
Whether you know it or not you may have already defined a certain category of people as preferred customers by the choices your organisation has made over the years. Your business model automatically defines your ideal customer. A real estate company that builds condominiums in a plush high class residential area cannot suggest that it is targeting the ordinary working class. That will be catered for by those who build low-cost, affordable units in the outer communities. The broadcast language, location, slogan or even the kind of presenters a radio station hires, will automatically determine who listens to their broadcasts. A station may profess to be targeting the youth but their consistent playing of “Old School” music or timeless jazz classics could be much more appealing to a different age bracket. The result is brand confusion as your customers are left unsure of what you stand for and what they should expect from you.
Customer-centrism
If the customer is that important then his or her needs must be taken into consideration in every major decision that governs the business. Anyone obsessed with providing superior customer service can be called a customer-centric person or organisation. The choice of name, location, service offering, menu, prices and every other aspect of the business plan must aim at ensuring customer satisfaction. That would mean listening to what the customers are saying rather than what you believe to be their need.
A South African restaurant franchise set up in Ghana years ago and introduced the concept of drive-through service, which at the time was a novelty. The market responded appropriately with hordes of patrons flocking to their eatery. After the initial flurry, the feedback was that the restricted menu and the seasoning of the food were unfamiliar and were therefore not connecting to the predominantly-Ghanaian palate. The company failed to respond quickly ostensibly because it was a franchise and was keen on standardising the experience across all locations. The numbers declined and drifted to other restaurants till the company eventually responded by introducing a number of Ghanaian dishes on its menu. By then it was too late. The company was soon compelled by low patronage to close down its operations. A truly customer-centric business actively solicits customer feedback to ensure that it gets it right on all fronts.
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