Introduction

No business can survive without customers. They are the very reason for our existence. Customers provide the revenue that ensures profitability, which in turn enables the business to employ people like you and me and to pay our wages and salaries! It is therefore essential that we not only attract customers, but that we ensure their satisfaction and turn them into loyal supporters of our business. We need to serve them in such a way that they keep on coming back and simultaneously spread the word about the great service they consistently receive.

Most businesses promise their customers products and services of a high quality. How many actually manage to keep these promises? Every one of us is a customer and we all had our share of bad experiences. Can you recall off-hand an exceptionally bad experience you as a customer had lately? Poor service or a service promise not being kept by the business, nine out of ten times, caused that bad experience. If we want to focus on customer service, it is important to establish exactly how we make and keep our promises to our customers. That brings us back to the relationship between external and internal customers and our business.

In order to provide excellent service, we must first establish whom we really serve. Once we have established who these people are, we can identify ways and means to serve them better.