In a world where change is imminent, economies are unstable, customers are demanding, and competition is increasingly intense, the key to success is differentiation. The importance of the price for the client is being replaced by speed, payment facilities, delivery facilities, etc., all of the above are summarized in service.
The service is becoming increasingly important for the customer and companies that do not pay attention to this aspect, even if they are products, are doomed to fail in a short time. But giving a good service is not an easy task, the service is based on perceptions and the perceptions are totally subjective. And not only the perception of the client is a key part, the state of mind of the employee who provides the service is also key.
This essay aims to expose some ways to achieve a successful service in business, some of them based on the experiences of companies that have gone far to use the service as a competitive advantage.
Successful service
Let's start by defining who determines whether the service was successful or not, the customer, this character is the one who rates the service as mentioned in the introduction through perceptions. But how can we close the gap between what the client expects and what he receives? The first answer is standardization. Standardizing the service is the first step to achieve a good rating, because the customer will always expect the same and receive it.
However, in order to achieve standardization, the unconditional collaboration of the most important asset of companies “the employees” is necessary, and for them to collaborate, it is necessary that they have favorable working conditions from salary according to their functions and needs, monetary incentives and of self-esteem, empowerment, a clean and ergonomic workplace, working tools in good condition and, above all, treating them humanely. With the above and good leadership, it is possible to achieve the commitment of the people and therefore the achievement of the organizational objectives, in this case the standardization of service and employee loyalty, which permeates the client.
Mass marketing is no longer what it is today, now you must know the customer, hence the importance of segmentation, knowing what type of customer we are providing the service to know what generates value, for example if we want to target To a lower class segment and our facilities and staff seem first world, they may feel uncomfortable (a matter of perception) and will not return. On the other hand the company would be making unnecessary expenses that the potential client does not value. Another option is to change the customer's perception, as CINEMEX did, it was located in strategic areas for various socioeconomic levels and with the same quality of service, it handled different prices.
There are sophisticated tools to still make the service more personalized, CRM is one of them, it consists of collecting all the possible information from the client to get to know them in depth, to know their purchasing habits, that is, what they buy, for whom they buy, how often, and thus your tastes and preferences and to give you a more personalized treatment. The purpose of applying this type of system, far from just looking for increased sales, is to achieve customer loyalty, not only giving them what they expect, but exceeding their expectations.
To successfully implement this system, it is not only necessary to buy the most complete and costly program on the market, it is necessary and a priority that there be a commitment from management that permeates to other levels a culture of service, a shared vision of customer service, how some say they know and understand that "the customer is king" as American Express knows, putting the customer's interests first and creating brand value and positioning.
All of the above is constantly changing, it can never be said that the ideal state has already been reached and that there is nothing to improve, companies must be proactive and anticipate changes, always innovating and researching to meet the changing needs of consumers, a continuous improvement program must be implemented.
Information technology is becoming very important in services, mainly to create closer communication with the customer. Listening to the client is very important but it is not enough, each complaint, comment or suggestion must be documented and followed up and a response to the client so that you know how important it is.
Conclusions
We must make the client's visit to our company a true positive experience and thus achieve their loyalty. For this we must first know the customer, achieve committed employees and that senior management adopt a service culture. Innovating, using the available technological tools and anticipating changes in customer needs and tastes will allow us to achieve a successful service, satisfied customers and therefore an enduring business.
Bibliography
CRM and the Client-Centered Company
By Alfredo Beneitez, professor of CRM and Business Reinvention, ITAM
Cinemex: The Consumer Makes Magic
American Express: The Key to Service.
