Customer first: the message for thi

Customer first: the message for this or any other year.
By Michael Skapinker

What, the caller from Hewlett-Packard wanted to know, did I think the big business issues would this year? Well, I replied, in Hewlett-Packard’s case, I thought the issues should be that my new HP printer-scanner-copier refused to scan when I bought it and it took me weeks to sort it out. Also the machine could not print on lightweight card, as it was supposed to, without jamming.

The man from HP laughed nervously. Were there any other big business issues I would like to mention? No, I said. If HP took care of those small ones, the big ones would take care of themselves.

I could have talked for longer, but I had to call Powergen. I should not have been using the FT’s time to sort out my electricity difficulties but no one had answered the 24-hour Powergen helpline the previous evening. This time I got through and, after a few false starts, they sorted out my problem.

Why is it so hard for companies to get things right?
The British utilities seem to have surrendered all their post-privatisation customer-service improvements. Some have gone back to their tricks of 20 years ago, including not turning up at the appointed time and then claiming to have rung the doorbell and found no one home.

Many banks, retailers and the rest are no better. Some seem to have cut back on the essentials of customer service training: please, thank you – that sort of thing.
I know this is not just a British phenomenon: every time I write about deteriorating customer service, many of you e-mail from elsewhere with the same complaints.

What is the problem? Some of it is industry-specific: either there is insufficient competition or dissatisfied customers cannot be bothered to change because they doubt they will find anything better. But I sense a deeper problem: many companies seem to have forgotten what business is about.

They think it is about cutting costs: hence the mania for outsourcing. I am not attacking outsourcing as such; it is not, on its own, responsible for deteriorating customer service. Rather, the problem is the mindset that so much outsourcing represents: the idea that a startling reduction in employment costs is all you need to succeed.

Costs do matter. If they exceed the revenues, you have no profit – and no company, or individual, can carry on for long without profits.

But making a profit, essential though it is, is not the purpose of business either. It is its consequence. As Peter Drucker wrote: ‘Profit is not the explanation, cause or rationale of business behavior and business decisions, but rather the test of their validity. ’

The purpose of a business is to provide something that a customer wants at a price he or she is prepared to pay. In Prof Drucker’s words: ‘It is the customer who determines what a business is. It is the customer alone whose willingness to pay for a good or for a service converts economic resources into wealth, things into goods. ’

It is a simple idea. You provide goods or services that customers are pleased with – so pleased that they come back, and tell all their friends to buy from you too. You then sell more. Result: happiness.

Carrying this out, of course, is less simple. Others may have found a way of providing the same goods at far lower prices, in which case costs will have to be looked at again and you may have to move jobs to low-wage countries.

There is also the difficulty of execution: the bigger your business becomes and the more widespread your suppliers and customers, the harder it is to deliver.
You may need information technology systems to keep track of supplies and to ensure that when your customers call, it takes you no more than a few seconds to call up the information you need.

But when the new IT system has been installed, or the foreign factory built, or this or that activity put out to contract, there is only one test of whether it was worth it: are the customer happy?
It is with the customer that all business decisions should start and end.

From the Financial Times

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

Khách hàng đầu tiên: thông báo cho điều này hoặc bất kỳ năm khác. Bởi Michael SkapinkerNhững gì, người gọi từ Hewlett-Packard muốn biết, đã làm tôi nghĩ rằng những vấn đề lớn, kinh doanh nào năm nay? Vâng, tôi trả lời, trong trường hợp Hewlett Packard, tôi nghĩ các vấn đề nên được rằng tôi HP máy in-máy quét-Photocopy mới từ chối để quét khi tôi đã mua nó và nó đã cho tôi tuần để sắp xếp nó ra. Cũng máy có thể in trên thẻ nhẹ, như nó đã được yêu cầu, mà không gây nhiễu. Người đàn ông từ HP cười nervously. Đã có bất kỳ vấn đề lớn, kinh doanh khác tôi muốn đề cập đến? Không, tôi đã nói. Nếu HP đã chăm sóc của những cái nhỏ, các công trình lớn sẽ chăm sóc của mình. Tôi có thể đã nói chuyện lâu hơn, nhưng tôi đã phải gọi Powergen. Tôi nên không có bằng cách sử dụng FT của thời gian để sắp xếp ra khó khăn điện của tôi nhưng không có ai đã có trả lời đường dây trợ giúp 24 giờ Powergen buổi tối trước đó. Thời gian này tôi nhận thông qua, và sau khi một vài giả bắt đầu, họ sắp xếp ra vấn đề của tôi. Tại sao là nó khó khăn như vậy cho các công ty để làm những điều đúng? Các tiện ích Anh dường như đã đầu hàng tất cả của cải tiến dịch vụ khách hàng tư nhân hoá sau. Một số đã đi trở lại thủ đoạn của họ của 20 năm trước, trong đó không chuyển lên lúc đó được bổ nhiệm và sau đó tuyên bố đã rung chuông cửa và tìm thấy không có một nhà. Nhiều ngân hàng, nhà bán lẻ và phần còn lại là không tốt. Một số có vẻ đã cắt giảm các yếu tố cần thiết của khách hàng dịch vụ đào tạo: xin vui lòng, cảm ơn bạn-rằng loại điều. I know this is not just a British phenomenon: every time I write about deteriorating customer service, many of you e-mail from elsewhere with the same complaints. What is the problem? Some of it is industry-specific: either there is insufficient competition or dissatisfied customers cannot be bothered to change because they doubt they will find anything better. But I sense a deeper problem: many companies seem to have forgotten what business is about. They think it is about cutting costs: hence the mania for outsourcing. I am not attacking outsourcing as such; it is not, on its own, responsible for deteriorating customer service. Rather, the problem is the mindset that so much outsourcing represents: the idea that a startling reduction in employment costs is all you need to succeed. Costs do matter. If they exceed the revenues, you have no profit – and no company, or individual, can carry on for long without profits. But making a profit, essential though it is, is not the purpose of business either. It is its consequence. As Peter Drucker wrote: ‘Profit is not the explanation, cause or rationale of business behavior and business decisions, but rather the test of their validity. ’The purpose of a business is to provide something that a customer wants at a price he or she is prepared to pay. In Prof Drucker’s words: ‘It is the customer who determines what a business is. It is the customer alone whose willingness to pay for a good or for a service converts economic resources into wealth, things into goods. ’It is a simple idea. You provide goods or services that customers are pleased with – so pleased that they come back, and tell all their friends to buy from you too. You then sell more. Result: happiness. Carrying this out, of course, is less simple. Others may have found a way of providing the same goods at far lower prices, in which case costs will have to be looked at again and you may have to move jobs to low-wage countries. There is also the difficulty of execution: the bigger your business becomes and the more widespread your suppliers and customers, the harder it is to deliver. You may need information technology systems to keep track of supplies and to ensure that when your customers call, it takes you no more than a few seconds to call up the information you need.But when the new IT system has been installed, or the foreign factory built, or this or that activity put out to contract, there is only one test of whether it was worth it: are the customer happy? It is with the customer that all business decisions should start and end. From the Financial Times