In a world where basically everything has to do with providing a service one way or another, what has really become concerning is customer service. Customer service in a competitive business setting can be one that sets your product apart from others. In non competitive business areas, it sometimes does not really matter.
To me, customer service is the act of being able to satisfy your customers in a way that they come back to purchase whatever service you provide in the future. A lot of the most successful businesses are good at customer service and as such as able to retain a loyal fan base.
From where I come from, customer service is almost non existent in a lot of businesses. If you interview about 10 people what their experience with customer service is, you would be shocked with some of the stories. Myself, I have had some bad experiences.
Bad customer services can be attributed to a lot of factors. In some situations, the customers are at fault. In some, the service providers are at fault and in some cases, everyone is at fault. Though, in lots of businesses, you hear, "the customer is always right", I do not necessarily subscribe to that. You might be wondering why but hear me out. In as much as I as a provider should be patient, it doesn't mean I have to accept disrespect from customers. Some customers are very rude that sometimes even you as another customer has to step in and let the other know that what they are doing isn't the best.
While I was in school last year, I remember I went to a shop to buy some snacks. I think I bought something and then while she was returning, I asked for something in addition and because she had to go back into her shop, she was shouting at me. I almost left her shop with nothing but I just didn't mind and paid for the snacks. The problem was that there wasn't a lot of competition in the school business wise because people used to complain about her and I didn't believe it because it never happened to me till then.
In places where I have options, I do not return to rude sellers. I understand that sometimes the sellers are already affected by their own problems and so the little you do sets them off. No one is perfect but if people keep complaining about your business, you have to re evaluate and change things.
The bad customer service in Ghana can also be attributed to the fact that the workers in some businesses like restaurants are not paid enough. People work for money and when they feel they are not rightly appreciated, they won't work well. It could also be because we do not tip in this nation but then again, why tip for poor service.
What I have come to realize is that, when you tip workers, they treat you right the next time you are there. At work, when we go out for inspections with one of my bosses, we always go to a restaurant for "fufu". I have been to more than one place with this boss of mine and all those places we have been treated nicely. I have concluded that the reason is that he tips the workers.
I don't see a lot of people tipping but when I saw him do that, I was impressed. So, maybe one way we can improve customer service for ourselves is to tip the workers of businesses. A lot of other things can be done such as improved working conditions and good manners from us customers.
Owners of businesses should be able to supervise, train their workers to provide good services and get rid of workers who refuse to serve customers the right way.
So, share with me the kind of customer services you have been treated to. Was it good or bad?
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