A quick customer service course

Maltese consumers are maturing. They are asking searching and challenging questions.

On the other hand, dominant firms and the public sector are now realising this basic truth: The success of a business can only be achieved through customer satisfaction. Indeed, customer care is becoming crucial. For the benefit of traders, here follows a quick customer service course:

When you deal with a customer, smile, establish eye contact, use the customer's name, give the customer undivided attention, and adopt a positive and receptive posture while at the same time assessing the customer's posture and attention. Speak with the same pitch and speed; show that you respect and accept the customer; show that you respect your colleagues and the organisation you work for; be calm and confident, well-groomed, and tidy.

The next 10 years will see dramatic changes as enterprises learn to establish a meaningful dialogue with customers, and develop pro-active, one-to-one relationships and partnerships. Consumers like to visit showrooms, see products, talk to dealers, but they don't like dealers to push them. Customers feel more confident when they own the decision.

Employers in sectors like finance, retail, hospitality and public utility services especially must ensure that their employees understand that investment decisions depend on market success and this success is more and more customer-led. This means that workforces need to be more adaptable and the survivors are those who exceed customer expectations and demands. Good customer service is therefore a strong guarantee for job preservation.

Too many businesses are wasting money on training and service consultants without getting it right. Customer loyalty fails when customers do not feel comfortable and subsequently do not come back. Without customer loyalty, a business cannot grow. The problem could easily be that customers feel that the service is not up to scratch and move elsewhere. Customers are also purchasing differently.

Here's a message for traders: When customers start returning, this is a sign that they feel better about you and your products. The message we get from customer surveys is: people want to be treated better.