Whenever I browse discussion boards and read issues bothering on customer service in the country, it amuses when I read the conclusion on these discussion boards- there’s nothing like customer service in Nigeria. What amuses me more is the fact most of the contributors have at least one unpleasant story to narrate, and it’s usually about bad customer service rendered to them. Nobody ever talks about his/her customer service rendered to others.
Without doubt, customer service is still a loargely unfamiliar concept in Nigeria, and one expects that there will certainly be misunderstandings of what customer service entails. However, many of us do not really know that customer service starts with all of us. There are two types of customers- the internal customers are our colleagues, while the external customers are the esteemed clients who keep our businesses alive. Customer service starts with our relationship with the internal customers- a fact that most of us are not aware of. Not many colleagues really respect one another, and the familiarity amongst us has made us forget simple etiquettes like greeting, respect for others’ opinions, beliefs and principles. Even the e-mails with which we communicate in our offices are not as friendly as they ought to be. Some of them are downright offensive, insulting and sometimes, sub-human. If we are not able to treat our internal customers with courtesy and friendliness, how do we get it right with the external customers?
Another fact is that customer service is not limited to a particular person, division or department. That there's a customer service division in an organization does not mean those who do not belong to that division should not be customer-centric. Unfortunately, that’s what most of us think. We would rather engage in an idle chat with a friend than assist customers in answering simple questions relating to our products, services or organization. The usual response is “Call the customer care on.....”, or “check our website”. More annoying is the fact that many of us believe that our position is too important to deal with ‘trivial issues’. I once heard a man say to a customer: “I’m their boss here. Talk to them”. He pointed lazily at the very busy workers, and walked away. He not only lost the customer, but was demoted because the customer complained bitterly about him.
In addition, every organization has its policies. I have observed that those who usually request that company policies be ignored in order to enjoy excellent customer service are the ones who are most rigid when the ball is in their court. As much as it is important to satisfy customers, we must also be aware that our zealousness must not be in contravention of the organization's policies, and where there’s an exceptional issue that may warrant any form of contravention, necessary permission must be expressly sought.
Customer service is not just a profession, but a culture. It is meant to be practiced by everybody, and while I agree that the impact may not be immediate, I believe that the efforts of the enlightened ones amongst us will go a long way in spreading the message. Someday, the bus conductors, traders, artisans and other illiterates and semi-illiterates will make excellent customer service their norm- but they have to learn from the elites. Unfortunately, the elites are more concerned about how they are treated than how they treat others.
There’s customer service in every part of the world, including Nigeria. But if the country’s customer service is poor, it’s because we are not doing enough to take it to the next level. Every human being is a customer service ambassador- and the earlier we realize that, the better our society in general- and business environment in particular- become.
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