Excellent Customer Service, the much touted ‘must –have’
that every organization desires attributed to them, and every leader irrespective
of profession or economic orientation is anxious to have as one of their
achieved deliverables, is indeed just that – a ‘must-have’. But beyond being a nice item on the
organization or leadership wish list, what sort of investment are organizations
ready and willing to make to transform this dream into reality?
A recent 2013 research study by The Institute of Customer
Service in Kenya on ‘The State of
Customer Service in Kenya’ reveals that ‘whereas
leadership within organizations are cognizant of the need for superior customer
service as a brand differentiator, the actual tangible investment in
customer service is negligible and in want of corporate commitment in the form
of budgets, structures, goals, systems, capabilities and robust assessment
methods’.
Where then
does customer service investment fall in the finance sheets of an organisation?
Who is responsible for the budget creation and implementation of the budget
action plans? Who is kept awake at night thinking about the next best way to
delight the customer? And most importantly what sort of investment is Customer
Service? Does it fall in the Opex budget and form a line entry for operational
costs to keep things moving, or does it fall in the Capex budget as a heavy
investment required to provide an input into the business for which return on
investment will be reaped over time?
Stephen
Walden – Senior Head of Consulting and Research at Beyond Philosophy, indicates
that the biggest challenge facing the customer service industry is how to link
Customer Experience to financial value. The leadership of most organisations
demand a demonstration of the return on investment before any customer
experience programs pass budget stage or if in place, get implementation
approval.
How does
one create a distinct equation between a brand’s emotional engagement with
customers and an upward spike in the organisation’s bottom line? Is this an
achievable KPI that can be tangibly tied to customer experience activities?
Whatever one’s line of business, whatever one’s leadership style, whatever
sector of the economy an organisation lies, the undeniable common denominator
is that customers drive business. And the direct spin off of that, is that
happy customers drive business further and faster. Happy customers in this
context are customers that are emotionally aligned to the brand and are
unshakably loyal to it. Creating this level of emotional engagement demands
delivery of delightful customer experiences, having consistent quality of
products and services, having the organisation’s ear to the ground to anticipate,
meet and exceed customer expectations and most importantly, acknowledging
service failure if and when it does happen and instituting make good and
service recovery mechanisms diligently. This is the not-so-secret formula to
business success.
Does all of
the above require proper strategy, planning and execution? Does investment in
customer service excellence require assiduous budgeting and resource
allocation? If indeed business and personal success is a key objective, then
the big debate should revolve around if customer service is an operational cost
given its now apparent importance as an ingrained element for every day
success, or if it is a capital expenditure, planned and planted to reap
sustained benefits over time. I leave this crucial debate to all you professionals. Do let me know the outcome of your discussions.....
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