Retaining customers is today one of the biggest challenges facing companies. Buyers? loyalties wither under the pressure of competition. With increasing product and performance similarity, customer service and satisfaction has become a key source of differentiation that businesses can build on to create a sustainable edge over rivals.

But having satisfied clients is just not enough. Research shows that 80% of customers who switch suppliers express satisfaction with their previous supplier. What really commands loyalty is the ability and willingness of the company to walk the extra mile to exceed customers? expectations. Satisfied customers are not necessarily loyal customers. Unless you give them a unique experience as buyers, they will keep shopping around.

Whilst businesses spend lavishly on marketing and branding, many might just be missing the whole point. People that firms are supposed to serve are not always at the heart of business decisions the latter make.

Improving critical customer interfaces and reviewing processes that deliver service are key steps in fostering an experience that a competitor will not be able to match. ?The company should first develop a mission statement in terms of customer service. The statement should capture the essence of the business direction and can act as an inspiration for future performance,? argues Aisha Mosaheb, partner at Blast Communications, a consulting firm specializing in corporate communications.

The statement should however be supported by an enterprise-wide change of mindset. The attitudes towards customers should be embedded in the values of the organization. From a strategic point of view, the vision of the company must be aligned with the commitment to provide the highest level of service to the clientele. You can only meet your strategic objectives when your customers are with you.

Once an organization has committed to instituting a customer service culture, this strategy and direction needs to be communicated to the entire company. First and foremost, there should be an endorsement from the top management level. ?Nothing happens if the CEO himself does not support the customer service vision. There are instances where the CEO himself comes out to restate the customer service theme and motivate the crew,? says Aisha Mosaheb.

For a customer service strategy to work, it must also have been developed by the staff. ?It should also set high standards so that accomplishing the strategy means you will be delivering exceptional service? she comments.

There is a wide array of tools to communicate the vision and commitment to the whole enterprise: regular newsletters; design a corporate identity around the customer service strategy; break- out sessions and seminars to familiarize with the various key notions and the delivery strategies; and contests and awards (employee of the month, salesperson of the month?).

<B>Positive change </B>

Companies are putting more effort into understanding and meeting the needs of their customers. There is a lot of focus on coaching and training to attain the required level of service satisfaction. Aisha Mosaheb, who has been organizing training sessions on the matter on behalf of several multinationals in Mauritius and on the African continent, views a training needs analysis as the first step to building a structured programme. ?We use methods such as mystery shopping and interviews with the internal staff to understand the culture of the organization and also the gap in terms of customer service level. From there, we can develop the modules, break-out sessions, team building, etc.?

Blast Communications uses experimental learning as its training methodology. This helps the employees (individually and as part of a group) to apply the learning into their work setting. Once the new values have been assimilated, the consultant may be brought in occasionally to facilitate meetings or reviews or conduct team coaching or individual mentoring sessions.

Improving customer satisfaction does not always imply investing in a material upgrading of the company?s infrastructure. Very often, a positive change in attitudes towards people that come into the organization serves the purpose. The starting- point is being comfortable with your clientele.