Unless you’re retired, unemployed or independently wealthy, you likely have customers.

Customers are those who purchase products and services from you or your company. All customers, whether big or small, are important and without them we would not be able to maintain our businesses nor live our lives.

I’m one who believes in delivering excellent customer service. At the same time, I’m amazed at how such a simple concept seems to be so difficult for many businesses to execute. Is it really that complicated?

Whether it’s complicated or not, one would think that after spending a lot of money to attract customers, companies would do a better job of customer service. In fact, the real cost of poor service goes beyond losing existing customers. Studies show that a dissatisfied customer will recount their experience ten times to friends and associates. That’s not good for your business!

Perhaps we’re in a customer service crisis!

As a customer myself, I’ve received poor service from several companies in just the last few months. These companies are both large and small including a one- man video production company, a bank, a telecom, a grocery store, a real estate management company and a restaurant. As you can see, poor service is not limited to a particular industry, or size of enterprise. So what’s the problem? (more…)