TABLE OF CONTENTS Do you have a problem? Yes.
We can say this with confidence because:
not even the most popular organizations get it right every time for every customer;
customers' needs and expectations are always changing.
What is good enough today will not be good enough tomorrow. The most successful organizations believe in acting now to make sure they meet tomorrow's needs.
Absolute perfection is not attainable. Your target for customer care should be continuous improvement towards perfection.
The first step is to identify any shortcomings.
Carisbrooke Cleaning Services provided contract office cleaning for numerous local firms. They were very competitive on price, and very responsive to their customers' complaints. Their policy was that whenever a customer complained, a supervisor and a back-up cleaner would arrive within two hours to check the problem and put it right. (Cleaning normally took place out of office hours.)
Many customers were impressed with the efficiency of this service but, as time went on, they became less impressed. Several customers began to ask CCS why their night cleaners couldn't do the job properly in the first place, and thus avoid the disruption involved in putting problems right during the day.
You may think you are providing an excellent service, but only your customers can tell you for certain. Many organizations now work quite hard to find out what their customers think of them. Here is a part of a questionnaire issued by a...
