Customer Service Helps Bring Home the Bacon - By Jim Richardson, CEO, HEDC

The past two articles by Jim Richardson really dealt with getting your business started. The focus of this article is on customer service….an important factor in attracting a loyal customer following, keeping your existing customers and attracting new customers.

It is important that you have a product or service that people want but you must be able to provide it to them when they want it and in a fast and efficient manner. So, hours of operation are a big factor in this aspect of customer service. That is why many convenience stores are open 24 hours a day. Some large grocery stores in major cities are also following that trend. For example, you can find a Loblaw store in downtown Toronto that is open 24 hours. Gas bars provide 24 hour service too as they focus on service. The Western Canada gas bar chain, Domo, operates on the slogan,”We jump to the pump for you”. You cannot go into business and survive without attracting a loyal customer following and keeping that customer base. Some businesses also have annual customer surveys where they ask for the customers feed-back on the service provided to them by the business. Then they tie that into a compensation package for employees.

For example, a poor customer survey response may mean that the employees receive less of or no bonus for the year. It would be a mistake to become complacent. That is, to assume that people will frequent your business just because you are the only option they have.

There are many examples of companies that have lost considerable business because of that. For example, sales fell considerably years ago for Harley Davidson because they did not concentrate on customer service and what the competition was offering. They did not believe that the Japanese could produce a motorcycle that customers liked. In this case, Honda entered the market and produced a line of motorcycles that severely cut into Harley Davidson sales. It took years for Harley Davidson to recover.

It does not matter where you are or the service you provide, you must provide customer service to grow. At HEDC we feel the same. HEDC will focus on customer service for all of its businesses. We want to develop a customer charter of rights. We want you to feel good when you buy our products or services and we want you to come back. To do that we will have the welcome mat out for you from the time you enter the store, the gas pumps, speak to someone on the telephone or visit one of our offices. 

james.richardson@heiltsukdevco.com
I value your feedback!