Finding the will to exceed Every business has customers, but how many can say they are truly customer-driven? Which businesses have an overriding desire to serve the customer better ­ and actually put this into practice? Customer service is the competitive battleground. Customers are more demanding than ever before. Excellent customer service is not only about meeting customer expectations ­ it is about exceeding them. And too often this is the exception, not the rule. Senator Feargal Quinn, md of Irish supermarket chain Superquinn, makes three main points on excellent customer service in his book, Crowning the Customer. They are: do everything possible to get your customers to return, listen to your customers and create more complaints! Ideally, everyone wants their customers to return but most businesses want to maximise profits from the current sale. However, if your main task is to bring the customer back, then the profit will largely look after itself. All aspects of business, all trading operations, depend mainly on repeat business for their profitability. Once your customers return to your business, do whatever it takes to get them to recommend your business to their friends and neighbours. However, reputation has two sides and it is just as easy to have dissatisfied customers who will probably put off far more people than a satisfied customer will recommend. Listen and talk to your customers. You will need a system in place to listen to them ­ including customer panels, comment forms, customer service desks, market research and accessible staff. It is best to use a number of these methods because they will generate different types of feedback. Ensure it is everyone's job in the company to listen to customers ­ right to the very top. I have been on an EasyJet flight with the airline's chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Throughout the flight he spoke to every single customer, asking what they thought of EasyJet, and he willingly discussed any shortfalls. We were all very impressed. But this is how he ensures he offers a service his customers are happy with ­ by effectively being on the shop floor and talking to the people who keep his company in business. If you can encourage someone to complain then you have the chance to resolve that complaint and send them away happy, possibly more so than before, rather than leaving them dissatisfied because they have not aired their views. Make sure you also hear what you don't want to hear. How can you improve if people only give you positive feedback? Learn from your customer complaints. Despite its ability to be interactive, the internet has made many companies hard of hearing. Your customers are only a click away from the competition, and the biggest differentiation is service. But the onus has been to capture them rather than delight them. Even the recent vogue for CRM (customer relationship management) has tended to focus on technological capability rather than customer satisfaction. Dell Computers only builds a PC once it is ordered and paid for. Dell deals directly with its customers and ran the following advert: To all our nit-picky, over-demanding, asking awkward questions customers: Thank you and keep up the good work.' Make it known that you welcome complaints and thank your customers for doing so. Businesses are keener than ever to win, satisfy, retain and understand their customers. Today the customer who is unhappy and not shy about saying so is a godsend, someone who can help fine-tune the service or product being offered, a rich source of feedback not to be overlooked. Regard complaints as an inspiration, not a chore. Customer service is based on a simple principle ­ caring. Above all, care for each and every customer. l Leading Edge will only be emailing members from now on. If you have not recently told us your email address then please drop us a line to leading.edge@igd.com. Full details of meetings and events will be available on www.igd.com/leadingedge in the New Year. For those of you who don't have access to email then we shall continue to mail flyers. n {{LEADING EDGE }}