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
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So You Want to Start a Business?

Many of us have had countless ideas about starting a business. I have also had the experience of being a banker and having people knock on my door for a loan to get their idea up and running. Having been on both sides of the fence, so to speak, I understand the perspectives of the entrepreneur trying to sell his or her idea and the banker looking for holes in the idea so as to protect the bank’s investment.

Remember, most people who start a business and make it successful are not any smarter than you or I. It is often said that success is the dividend of hard work, and in the case of starting and growing a business, I believe that to be true. Yes, there can be some luck involved, but in the end it is taking forward your idea based on an understanding of what will make your business a success and the effort you put in to making it a success.

Everyone has had a good idea from time to time, but it has not gotten beyond their imagination or a brief mention to family or friends. My experience in dealing with entrepreneurs is that they have generally had more than one or two ideas that they have acted on. If you look at the basic evolution of a business, it generally starts as being conceived by someone who then follows up with researching the idea and convincing themselves and others that it is a viable idea. Finally, they achieve their idea through the business plan that they develop and use as their guide to managing the business. In other words, we can look at the evolution of an idea as conceive it, believe it, and achieve it.

Let us take the idea of a coffee shop, say a Tim Horton’s. You noticed on your recent trip to Nanaimo, when you stopped by a Tim Horton’s, that cars were lined up waiting at the drive-thru and people were waiting inside to be served. You think…what a great idea if I were to open a Tim Horton’s in Bella Bella! You have conceived your idea; now you want to take your idea to the next step…to believe it is possible.

It is natural to become emotionally attached to your idea, but you must become a critic as well in order to convince yourself and others that it is possible. You will have to convince others, too, because you will need financing or other forms of assistance to convince the Tim Horton’s corporation that you can run a successful franchise here – construct the restaurant, hire the workers, and get it up and running. To do this, you must research your idea and find answers to numerous questions such as, do you have a location where you can build your restaurant? Can you get the workers needed? Can you get enough customers to generate the revenue required to pay back your loan, pay your employees, buy your supplies, pay your utilities, and pay yourself? Remember, you must sell a lot of coffee and donuts to make that happen! 

Once you have convinced yourself that the business can be successful, then you will have to put more structure to the research you did by preparing a business plan. You need a business plan to move forward. Don’t fret if you know little about a business plan, because you can get help in putting your business plan together. The important point is that you have done the research necessary to convince yourself and others that you can attract enough customers and sell enough coffee and donuts to make a profit after all expenses are paid. The business plan is basically a map that lays out your route to success. As the famous ballplayer Yogi Bera once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else.” The business plan will outline a strategy to attract and keep your customers and lay out a budget which basically identifies where your revenue will come from and the costs associated with operating your business. 

Now, armed with your business plan, approach a bank.

Article by Jim Richardson, CEO of the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation (Bella Bella, BC) 

http://www.heiltsukdevco.com/files/HEDC-newsletter-sept-09.pdf