CUSTOMER CARE: Making me become loyal to your business

I’m what most people might describe as a loyal person. I always stick to people, products and services I’m used to. I almost shop at the same places; my tomatoes seller at the Kimironko market is still the same for the past two years; my flower seller down town knows my taste; my telecom service provider is still the same even though there is a new and dynamic company in town; I still drive past some filling stations before arriving at the one I buy my fuel from. Well in a nutshell, I’m a faithful customer to most of my service providers. I need to confess here that I’m not a good consumer for advertisers as their false publicity does not always attract me. I stick to products and services I have tasted and adopted. The relationship with my service providers are based on the strong bond that is created with the contact staff I treat with. I don’t think I’m very different from many of you. Many customers expect superior customer service they pay for. And when their demand is met and; they feel connected to the service provider. As customers, we do not want to be treated like statistic or numbers along an assembly line. We all want to be treated with respect. We all want to feel appreciated. As costumers; we want business owners to show to us that they appreciate our patronage. Just imagine yourself as a daily customer of a bank, restaurant, supermarket, or some other establishments in town. Every time you walk in, the staff recognizes you, calls you by your name, smiles at you, listens to your needs, shows you he/she is happy to serve you, returns your phone calls and resolves your complaints in a timely fashion. The most important thing to your customer becomes then Excellent Customer Service. Excellent Customer Service is more important to people than the amount of the products, or the over all fees’ they have to pay. Excellent customer service is a great way to build customer relationships that lead to customer loyalty. What I mean by customer loyalty is that your costumers will not make a quick jump to a new competitor that comes. Even when they are approached by these aggressive competitors; your loyal customers will stick by you. And that is why as a business owner, you need to make sure that your costumers patronise your products and services because they are satisfied and not because they have no alternative. Because if that is the case; do not be surprised to see them leave when competition arrives. Remember that we always think that the grass is greener on the other side. People love to have the peace of mind that whatever product or service they have with you is secure with you. They like to know that if ever there is a problem, or if they have a question, you will be there to resolve their issue, regardless of what it may be. Excellent customer service leads to loyalty because if your customers like the way you treat them, they will be happy to refer their friends and family to you. So dear friend, treat today your customers the way you would treat your friends or family and they will stick with you forever, and provide you with a lot of business. As says Jeffrey Gitomer, an American author and business professional speaker, “You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day”. So work daily on improving your relationships with the customers and you can be sure that they will become your best advertisers. The author is a customer service consultant working in Rwanda sandra.idossou@sheiconsulting.com