Want to get worried about a supplier? Then ask if they have a customer relationship department or manager. If they do, the best advice we can give is: Find another supplier! Customer relationship is not a the responsibility of a single person nor is it a department. It should be an organisation-wide ethos and code of conduct.
A glance at many mission statements will usually highlight two clichés that management believe can be used to fool the people they need - staff and customers. The first is: Our employees are our most important asset!" and the other is: "We care about our customers".
The reality is that some business people forget that the customer or client is the reason for being in business! So instead of guidelines for a cliché ridden mission statement here's a guideline for a customer's bill of rights. Get staff to buy into it and learn to live the bill and you will soon find that customer relationships will improve, personnel satisfaction levels will increase and profits will move up, rather than down the curve...
The Customer's Bill of Rights
We - [INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR COMPANY] - express a desire to clearly state the principles and ideals which guide all of us in our relationship with our customers. We feel this step is necessary because we frequently find, when we are customers ourselves - either as individuals and as a company - that we are dissatisfied with the way we are treated. Disinterest, discourteousness, bad service, late deliveries and just plain bad manners are, regrettably, all too common.
Whilst we can't tell others how to run their businesses (except by not buying from them) we can and will run ours as we feel a business should be run. Therefore, the following is a list of what we consider are the inalienable rights of our customers. We expect to be held to account whenever we deny any of these rights to any buyer, regardless of size...
As a customer you are entitled to be treated like a real, individual, feeling human-being, with friendliness, honesty and respect.
As a customer, you are entitled to full value for your money. When you buy our products and services you should feel assured that it was a good buy and that it is exactly as it was represented to be.
As a customer, you are entitled to a complete and unconditional guarantee of satisfaction. This is especially true when you buy based on a sales promise, sight unseen.
As a customer, you are entitled to fast delivery of your purchase. But in the event of a delay, you are entitled to immediate notification, along with an honest estimate of expected delivery time and date.
As a customer, you are entitled to speedy, courteous, knowledgeable answers on inquiries.
You are entitled to all the help we can give in finding exactly the product or information needed.
As a customer you are entitled to expect the high visibility and easy access to our executives. And at no time should any reasonable request be denied simply because thew executive is too busy.
As a customer, you are entitled to the privilege of being an individual and of dealing with individuals. If there is a question you are entitled to talk to or correspond with another individual rather than voicemail so that the question can be resolved immediately on the most mutually satisfactory basis possible.
As a customer, you are entitled to be treated exactly as we want to be treated when we are someone else's' customer.
