MODULE I
Communication & Customer advisory Page 4

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Over 90% of the customers which are not satisfied with a company will not do any business again with it. Further large damage results if the word about a company's bad order execution, bad service, etc.. spreads to other customers.

The many times praised "word of mouth promotion" can be very positive but also very negative for a handicraft company because this verbal form of advertising contributes substantially to the operating results of a company in a positive as well as in a negative sense.

Many conditions still hinder or make necessary reforms more difficult in the service oriented handicraft business, e.g.:

Demands to flexibilise these conditions have been frequently made. However, they are not easy to realise and do not always lead alone to the desired changes in the customer service in the sanitary, heating and air-conditioning business.

It is not always easy in the daily work practice to break out of the vicious circle to be forced to service the customers better with always decreasing numbers of personnel. On the one hand the companies in the sector tend to reduce the number of their employees for cost saving reasons. On the other hand the remaining employees should take more time for customer advisory and customer service. This can not work in the long run.


2. Conditions of customer service - a total concept for the enterprise

There are handicraft companies that conduct their business according to a "total customer orientation" philosophy. Indeed not all companies in the sector offer a bad service or do have only unfriendly or incapable service technicians. On the contrary, there are many companies which are managed first-class and which understood to establish a very tightly-knit relationship with their customers by carrying a very good range of products or by offering a broad range of services and service guarantees.

If one takes a closer look at these companies, it can be observed that in general not sales training measures, different training programmes or financial incentives for the employees have made their success possible. It is simply that the co-operation between the management and the employees functions extremely well in these companies. This also seems to be an important requirement for a similarly positive relationship between the employees and the customers. So it proves to be true in practice that the employees of an enterprise normally treat their customers the same way they themselves are treated by the management.

A positive customer orientation presupposes a corporate culture in which work means fulfilment and in which a consent with the employees and co-workers is always tried to be achieved. If one wants to reach this goal, usually a reorientation on the management level is necessary and also a different leadership behaviour has to be realised in the enterprise.



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