Most mornings, while hurriedly making my way to the office, I stop for breakfast at a small food cart in an alley near my house. The middle-aged woman running the operation always recognises me. She knows that I like my pancakes stuffed with bok choy and never fails to marvel at my supposedly “excellent” Mandarin. Just a few meters further on, outside her family’s restaurant, sits another neighbourhood entrepreneur - my local seamstress. She too is always friendly, greeting me with nod and a warm smile.
These two businesses may not sound too impressive, but I would never dream of taking my business elsewhere. It is unlikely that two ladies who make their living on a muddy little side street will have ever heard the term ‘customer loyalty.’ However, they clearly understand the importance of the concept and how it applies to them and their livelihoods. Their product or service may not be the most glamorous or the highest quality available, but they secure business with pleasant greetings and personal interest.
Consumer Consciousness
We are all in the business of serving others, whether we recognise it or not. The march of globalisation has created a society in which more and more options are available to the increasingly educated and well-informed consumer. High quality products and friendly service are no longer enough to satisfy many customers. Successful companies find themselves searching for new ways to provide their customers with increasingly innovative products and services. Here in Asia, it is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses on the front lines of growth and expansion to dismiss the growing obsession with customer service as something that only happens in the West. International management consultants Accenture, in their 2007 Global Customer Satisfaction Survey, reported finding that 93% of Chinese consumers stated that their customer service expectations had increased over the past five years. Even more significantly, the survey found that 85% of the Chinese consumers who stopped doing business with a particular company cited poor customer service as their reason for doing so. The lightening-fast expansion of the economy on the Chinese mainland is creating a society in which consumers are rapidly becoming more and more discerning as to how and where they spend their money. Unfortunately, in many cases, consumer care is not keeping pace.
Superior Service
Businesses need to reassess the way they approach customer service. Hiring a nice young lady with a pleasant telephone voice used to be adequate as the frontline for line for all customer complaints. However, in the modern climate, this is no longer enough. In fact, it is not even close to being enough. Today, savvy companies realise that every aspect of their business is involved in satisfying the customer. It is not just the person who answers the phone or who mans the reception desk that affects customer service; everyone in the organisation does! Each and every department has a role to play in the continued consumption of the final product. Every individual in your organisation must take part in creating loyal customers, particularly HR.
Hiring
Even though everyone within your organisation is vital in providing fantastic customer service, there will always be those ‘soldiers’ who man the frontlines of your customer service machine. In China’s current HR market, with turnover seemingly spiralling out of control and talent hard to find, all good HR professionals will know that losing great employees costs money and often customers too. While most multinational companies may not be placing customer service representatives at the top of their HR ‘hit lists’, talented employees who provide outstanding service can be as difficult to find as qualified and experienced managers – and equally difficult to replace if they decide to leave.It is HR’s job to find and hold onto employees who will provide the sort of service that goes above and beyond your customers’ expectations. However, this is no easy task. Finding the best customer service staff is not the same as filling other roles. Personality and intangible factors are often key in finding the right person to be the face of your organisation.
Hiring good customer service staff will take more than just poring over a stack of resumes; a single document only provides limited insight into your applicant’s character. You need to look far deeper into your candidate’s personality. You are looking for something more – empathy. A quality sometimes described as “your pain in my heart” or the ability to put yourself is another person’s shoes, empathy is an extremely valuable trait for anyone in contact with clients and customers. When you interview candidates, ask yourself, do they share your customers’ values?Genuine empathy is not something that is easy to teach or train, it is natural. For this reason, your interview process may need to be more intense. Think about asking three or four different colleagues to sit in on the interviews to determine how they think the candidate will fit into company culture and to see how the candidate responds to different personalities - can he or she empathise with them?
Holding
They may have been hard to find, but eventually, after a gruelling search you hire your new customer service staff. They understand your company culture, they share the same values as your customers and, above all, they will bring empathy to what is a very delicate role. So, what can you do to hold onto them and ensure they thrive in their role? For many organisations, the most basic issues are the most important, but are sadly also the most overlooked. Here are two vital tips:
Good orientation and training is vital. Ensure your new staff members are clear about their role and your organisation’s expectations. It would be a tragedy if you installed these great new employees only to see them struggle because of a lack of preparation. This can result in all kinds of unnecessary mistakes and wasted time, or worse. Not clearly understanding the company’s expectations could easily lead to the sort of actions that cause an organisation to lose
It is also vital to remember that if you want your customers to feel cared for, you must care for the employees that serve them. Create an environment in which they feel their opinions and concerns are listened to, their ideas valued, and their enthusiastic participation encouraged. To do this, it is essential that those in positions of leadership take the initiative to stimulate the sharing of ideas with the employees for whom they are responsible.
I am sure the organisation at which you work is infinitely more complex than the food seller or seamstress close to my apartment. However, by fully appreciating the scope and importance of customer service, as well as implementing the suggestions outlined here, you can aid your employer in building the sort of consumer loyalty that the two women from my district created with me. This will make you more valuable to your organisation!
In the last issue of Network HR, Allan Nee of Baode Law in Tianjin wrote a detailed and insightful article about the ways in which your organisation needs to adapt to China's new Labour Laws. Allan offered a myriad of fantastic advice. However, there was one factor he mentioned that really captured my attention - transparency.Read More
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The Power of Acknowledgement
he seeds of this article were sewn as I put together the last edition of Network HR. First, as I edited the Training & Development section, I read the following prophetic words from Jennifer Peterson, "If you want your customers to feel cared for, you must care for the employees that serve them." This started me musing about the way organisations across China treat employees.Read More
Training
Synchronicity for Success
A single droplet of sweat trickled down my neck as the glowing amber sun beat down on us. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw our competitors lined up alongside us. It was the moment we had been preparing for over the last 5 years. Our goal was crystal clear and I had visualised this very occasion countless times.Read More
Recuitment
War, what is it good for?
I believe I can bring the War for Talent to a peaceful end. I came to this realisation two
months ago after I was invited to present at the ‘Corporate Travel and Technology
World' conference in Shanghai. The topic, "Selecting Potential Leaders and Turning a Company from Good to Great", was
provided some months earlier, giving me time to source opinions from
around China. Read More
In the last issue of Network HR, Allan Nee of Baode Law in Tianjin wrote a detailed and insightful article about the ways in which your organisation needs to adapt to China's new Labour Laws. Allan offered a myriad of fantastic advice. However, there was one factor he mentioned that really captured my attention - transparency.Read More
he seeds of this article were sewn as I put together the last edition of Network HR. First, as I edited the Training & Development section, I read the following prophetic words from Jennifer Peterson, "If you want your customers to feel cared for, you must care for the employees that serve them." This started me musing about the way organisations across China treat employees.Read More
A single droplet of sweat trickled down my neck as the glowing amber sun beat down on us. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw our competitors lined up alongside us. It was the moment we had been preparing for over the last 5 years. Our goal was crystal clear and I had visualised this very occasion countless times.Read More
I believe I can bring the War for Talent to a peaceful end. I came to this realisation two
months ago after I was invited to present at the ‘Corporate Travel and Technology
World' conference in Shanghai. The topic, "Selecting Potential Leaders and Turning a Company from Good to Great", was
provided some months earlier, giving me time to source opinions from
around China. Read More
