In Search Of Excellence

I have always been attracted to business because, in my mind, it is so demanding. If any one business fails to perform the law of the market place dictates that customers will move to a better alternative and that business will ultimately fail.

I was brought up on concepts like ‘sovereignty of the customer’ and service first, and so I am constantly frustrated with what seem to be ever decreasing levels of service fuelled in the main by mis used tech and AI, indifferent team members, a lack of active leadership and a failure to eat our own dog food (to test our processes and responses).

Today phones go unanswered, emails go unacknowledged and queries go unanswered at quite an alarming, frustrating and unacceptable rate, or so it seems. Because we live in an almost virtual world it is entirely possible for those people who should be accountable to be totally isolated and insulated from the customer. If organisations want to stop customers or service users being aggressive to their team members maybe they should spend more time quality testing their operation to remove the causes of that aggression.

Instead of wasting the customers time with apologies for ‘unusually high call levels’ they should spend some time recruiting and training people to answer the phone.

However, all of this does create a massive opportunity for the rest of us. To succeed all you really need to do is to turn up on time and do what you say you are going to do. Simple!

So the questions for this week are;

• Can your customers get through to you on the phone?
• When did you last test that yourself?
• What is the average number of rings before a phone is answered?
• What is the speed of response to incoming e mails?
• Do you encourage direct interaction with customers, or do you consciously make it virtually impossible for a customer to get through to you?

If you need any help, reach out

Many successful business owners eventually hit a wall on growth and struggle to climb it alone. When you work with me you get a fresh perspective, a solid plan, and customised coaching so you can grow and scale your business safely and at speed.

To check whether I can help you on that journey https://calendly.com/iankinnery/canweworktogether