My Historic Barn post sparked a heated debate with a client yesterday. I made the point that every person in an organization is responsible for the customer service experience. She disagreed.
Here’s my logic, and why I believe I won the argument. Let’s say you have a small business employing 15 people. And, let’s also assume you serve 200 customers a year. Now think carefully about how these valuable customers interact with your staff, and who they come into contact with.
On any given day a customer may need to speak to the following people in your organization:
- your receptionist,
- your sales staff,
- your accounts department,
- your technical staff,
- your workshop technicians,
- or you, the business owner.
Work this out for yourself. 15 people serving 200 customers. Assume that 80% of your staff complement communicates with each customer. That’s a whopping 2400 opportunities to impress your customers each year.
Of course, there’s always the alternative; 2400 opportunities to annoy your customers each year. Which would you prefer?