Too Much Procedures can affect service delivery

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14460&article=5328&week=48

WEEKLY » Business Times » CUSTOMER CARE : Too much Procedures can affect Service Delivery

CUSTOMER CARE : Too much Procedures can affect Service Delivery

By Sandra idossou

Yvonne, banks in one of the big financial institutions in town. Recently, she had to wait for more than two hours to get her money. The reason is that this bank has changed its internal procedures on cash withdrawals of over a million Rwandan francs.

The new procedure requires the cashier to get an authorization from a supervisor who is either in meetings, at lunch break or busy assisting other customers queuing with other requests.

After that process of authorization, the poor cashier has to go to another place to make photocopy of the customers’ identity card. This is also a new rule as in the past, the cashier just needed to see the identity card. Today, this isn’t sufficient anymore. So just imagine the number of ups and downs of the cashier, the waste of time and even the quantity of paper wasted every day on this process.

Most of us understand that internal policies and procedures are formulated by companies to help generate direction to best serve customers. There is actually nothing wrong in having procedures. But then, this becomes an issue when these procedures become simply too cumbersome.

Even if the first objective of having a procedure is to protect consumers, employees and the company in general; this has to be done in a simple and easy manner. Too many procedures can actually have a negative impact on service delivery. The next time you are deciding on a new procedure, please consider the following:

Use a team approach in defining this new procedure

Procedures help in improving a company’s efficiency or rectifying weak links in the provision of service delivery. But you need to associate the team in defining this new procedure. By being involved in developing procedures, staff will feel confident in their abilities to make decision. This will also help them to take ownership of this new procedure.

You may want to say you cannot involve junior staff in this exercise. But the fact here is that if the procedure is related to service delivery, you will definitely need the input from people who deal with customers in their day to day job.

In the example above, the cashier couldn’t explain why this new procedure was put in place. He was just asked to respect it and that was exactly what he was trying to do.
As a manager, do take time to explain all the aspects of a new service procedure to your team members so that they can in return do the same with customers.

Walk through the process as a customer and as an employee

Avoid too much bureaucracy but instead take time to go through the practical stages of the process as a customer or as an employee. This will help you to better understand how it works. A good written procedure might not necessary be easy to put in place.

Tom Peters says that “Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing... layout, processes, and procedures.” The simpler the procedure, the easier it will be to be implemented.

Also avoid putting two new procedures in place at once. Give each one the focus and concentration it deserves.

Get Feedback from customer during the trial period

After putting in place a new procedure, give it a trial period. Check with employees and customers how they react. Adapt it to the comments they give you. While it is true that human beings do not always like changes, do pay attention to customers feedback by establishing feedback mechanisms that can help to adjust the rules.

In conclusions, anytime you decide to put in place a new procedure or internal policy; think first about the impact on service delivery. They should be effective, clear, simple and precise. Always look for the balance between the end result and customer’s satisfaction. Remember cumbersome time-consuming procedures can equal to customer dissatisfaction.

sidossuo@theservicemag.com

WEEKLY » Business Times » New ventures…brand your company right from the start (final part)

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14452&article=5242&week=47

New ventures…brand your company right from the start (final part)

By Sandra Idossou

This is the last article on this series we started seven weeks ago for New Ventures. For the past three weeks; we have actually been tackling the importance of branding.

Effective branding has the power of elevating the image and perception of a company’s products and services. The following features were the important aspects we had developed in this paper:

1.Branding starts with the name of the company
2. Branding is about the corporate identity of the company
3. Branding is about creating first impressions
4. Branding is about the feelings and emotions you offer customers
5.Branding concerns all your marketing messages
6.Branding starts from within

An important lesson to learn here is that a great brand value cannot be built in a day. It takes time, money, effort, energy, perseverance, creativity and many more. Below are the final aspects of branding we had wanted to share with you on this series:

7. Branding is about offering excellent customer service

One of the questions your columnist received before starting this series was “what is the link between branding and customer service?” If you are a new venture, note that your brand is created out of customers contact and experiences. It is said that: “Ordinary people can spread good and bad information about brands faster than marketers.” It is not the brand guru who builds a strong brand but rather the excellent experiences your customers have.

Branding is a long process of building inseparable attributes in consumers mind. It is really about how strong the bond between you and your customers is.

Branding is simply more than just a logo or a slogan. Customer service is undeniably one of the necessary ingredients of Branding. When you offer excellent service; your customers will keep coming and your brand will resist even in times of strong competition.

8. Branding goes with Advertisement

If you are a new venture owner; you need to understand the power of advertisement. Even though advertising might be costly, it is important for your business. When I ask companies here to place an ad in The ServiceMag for instance, the reaction I often receive says “what will be the use?

After all customers already know us”
Advertising is of great importance in our world of competition. Advertising provides visibility and helps to develop awareness of your products and service.

Advertising will make prospects/customers remember you.
Of course, it is better to have one quality advertisement that costs a little more than five inexpensive ads of no value. I must admit that I still have issues with some of the advertisements I see in town; especially on the national television. I personally think that most of them lack some creativity.

It is said that a picture is worth thousand words. So when doing an ad, please avoid too many words. Rather use simple, clear powerful graphics that can capture the buyer’s attention. Also make sure this goes with your targeted audience.

9. Branding is also about your packaging

Your image is all in the packaging. How do you package yourself? Would potential clients take a second look or is your message getting lost? Branding is all about being seen and about the appearance of your packaging. Recently, Inyange upgraded their bottle water and this automatically gave a better image of their products.

Your packaging can speak volumes about your image and can either strengthen or weaken your brand. Spend time investing, researching, defining and upgrading it.

In conclusion, note that branding is an essential element for every business and most especially for new ventures. Branding represents your company in the media and in your customer’s mind. It is your company’s personality. Never underestimate its power.

Whether you are building your personal brand or that of your business, the basic steps are almost the same. You need time, energy and passion. Brands aren’t built overnight. You might not make money out of it straight away. But just like building a strong reputation, you need to prove yourself again and again in order for people to put their trust in you...

A strong brand value pays in the long term.

The author is a Customer Service consultant and the Publisher of The ServiceMag

www.theservicemag.com

New Ventures...brand your company right from the start (Part2)

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14445&article=5188&week=46

WEEKLY » Business Times » CUSTOMER CARE : New Ventures...brand your company right from the Start (Part2)

CUSTOMER CARE : New Ventures...brand your company right from the Start (Part2)

Sandra idossou

“A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment.” Says Scott Talgo, a renown marketing and brand strategist.

There are two important elements in this quote that I would like us to focus on in this article, the mind and the Heart of the customer. We have actually been running this series for new ventures for the last six weeks and in last week article; we emphasized on the importance of branding for all companies, small, big, public or private.

Some of the aspects that should not be overlooked were:

1. Branding starts with the name of the company.

2. Branding is about the corporate identity of the company.

3. Branding is about creating first impressions

For every business and most especially for new ventures; branding is simply one of the important components of their development. A good brand makes a product or service distinctive or unique compared to others in the market. Please pay attention to the following aspects:

4. Branding is about the feelings and emotions you offer customers

Branding is all about creating positive emotions and feelings in the mind and heart of every single customer who uses your products or services. In fact; a good brand is the one that actually touches the inner hearts of customers. When your products and services actually touch the hearts of your customers; you can be sure they will become your most loyal customers.

A company’s image is not based on its name alone; neither on the sole quality of its products or services. A company’s image is created; and to a large extent; on the combination of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions and visions of customers. It is for this reason that as a new venture owner, you need to make sure that you build “emotional bank accounts” in the minds and hearts of people who try your products and services.

5. Branding concerns all your marketing messages

Branding concerns all the marketing “messages” a company adopts in creating a permanent and positive reputation. It concerns for instance the slogan or tagline of your company. Choosing a slogan should be given enough thought.

In creating your slogan, use a single, simple, brief, inspirational and memorable sentence that describes your company’s mission. Your tagline can be a powerful branding tool and a highly effective way to boost your brand. In order to be easily remembered; include this message on all your company’s letterhead, correspondence or advertisements.

6. Branding starts from within

I was recently conducting a training session and when I asked participants what was the vision and mission of their company; I was shocked to realize that none of them knew it. And the funny thing here is that I have actually seen these marketing statements framed and hanged on the walls of this company.

Staff commitment in a brand needs more than just a written vision on the walls. You need to take time and take every employee through an induction program where they understand the essence of the company.

To be true, your employees are the people who can really make your brand grow.

“Brand value is very much like an onion. It has layers and a core. The core is the user who will stick with you until the very end.” says Edwin Artzt. For me the “layers’ and the “core” are consumers who are the main purpose of a strong brand value and this; unfortunately cannot be built in a day.

In next week article, we will continue on some other important aspects of branding that can influence the experiences and perceptions of your customers. So be on the watch.

sidossou@theservicemag.com

New Ventures...brand your company right from the start

CUSTOMER CARE: New Ventures...brand your company right from the start

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14441&article=5131&week=45

By Sandra Idossou

Why is branding important for new ventures? What does it entail? What is the link between branding, marketing and customer service? Well, these are some of the questions your columnist received since we started 5 weeks ago this series for new ventures.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

This definition says it all. Branding is part of a marketing strategy of a company. Branding is what helps every company and especially new ventures to be known and differentiated. Branding sets the tone for the image the company wants to create in people’s minds. Branding is for all, small or big organization; public or private company.

Let’s face it. Every company is associated with certain specific images or impressions. When you hear Mercedes or BMW cars, for instance; what do you associate with? When you read “everywhere you go” you certainly think of one of the telecom companies here. This is all about branding; creating a reputation in the minds of consumers.

Branding is simply the essence of your company’s image. Here below are some of the important aspects of branding for new ventures.

Branding starts with the name of the company

Is the name of your company easy to remember or to pronounce? Is your name descriptive of your product or service? I have always been impressed by the name “coca cola”. No matter the village you go through in any part of the world, the name still remains the same. Everyone can pronounce it, no matter the language.

If you are about to set up a new venture; watch out for the name you chose as this will go a long way in creating the image of your company.

Branding is about your Corporate Identity

Apart from the name of your company, your corporate identity also goes with whatever graphic image you have chosen for your logo. Designing a logo is not a simple thing that can be done by anyone. At the beginning of your new venture, invest money in a good designer.

Even if your company has been in existence for years, you still have to update your logo and create a stronger and more powerful one. There is this bank in town and whenever I look at their logo, I just have the impression that it has been existing for more than hundred years.

The logo doesn’t fit the present. Simply by looking at such an old logo with very old graphics, you can already imagine how people work inside. It is funny but I even imagine they are still in the “telex” mode. And this is rather unfortunate, because in most cases, a simple color or graphics change is enough of an update.

Branding is all about creating the right impression

First impression is capital for every new business. Elements such as your business cards, the company’s letterhead, invoices; Web site, brochures and even company’s t-shirts or staff dress code, say a lot about your new venture.

They are elements that can give value to the products and services you are selling. Do not neglect them.

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well”, says Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon.com. Gaining a good brand takes time, energy and lots of efforts.

In the next issue, we will continue on some other important aspects of branding that should not be overlooked…so watch out.

sidossou@theservicemag.com

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14431&article=5044&week=44

Monday 1st of November, 2010

WEEKLY » Business Times » PART 2: New ventures, use customers complaints to fine-tune your services

PART 2: New ventures, use customers complaints to fine-tune your services

Sandra idossou

For the past three weeks, we have been running a series on new ventures. It started with an article inviting new ventures owners to treat extremely well their first time customers so that they can become their advertising agents.

That article gave an example of a rather negative first time experience in a new restaurant called “Zen”.

In today’s paper, your columnist has decided to publish entirely the response she got from the owner of that restaurant. The reason is as simple as this. This is exactly the type of positive attitude business owners should adopt when there are complaints.

I have often heard stories where certain service providers take complaints in the newspapers rather personal. Someone I know got himself into so many problems because he criticized a well known restaurant in the papers. So here below is the positive response I received;
“Dear Sandra, thank you for your article published in the New Times today regarding Zen Restaurant.

We apologise sincerely for the bad experience you have received in our restaurant and we have studied your article and are looking in this matter with great detail to ensure it does not happen again. In regards to the drinks you ordered we now have Port and Green Tea in our drinks menu.

We very much agree with your article where you state how important first time customers are and we have always mentioned this to our staff and to get everyone to understand how our business depends on customer satisfaction. We therefore feel really bad that you had a bad experience and we will do our utmost in ensuring that it will not happen again.

We hope you will come and try our food sometime soon and we have no doubt you will enjoy it. We have many repeat customers who enjoy our food, ambience and service and we understand how important it is for us to keep them happy as well as our new customers.

Large amounts of money in giving the people of Rwanda a ZEN experience and to introduce new cuisines in Rwanda and we hope that we will continue to see the great response we have received so far.

Once again we apologise for the poor service you received and we will make sure we work on the points raised by yourself to improve our service. We also have an article written by yourself in The Service Mag, Issue 3: Sept – Nov 2010 titled ‘Achieving Outstanding Service in your Restaurant’ and we will look at the points raised in this article and implement them in our restaurant.

We hope to see you again in our restaurant. Thank you. Management of ZEN Restaurant”.

If you are a business owner, the first thing to know when opening a new venture is that feedback – be it positive or negative – is an integral part to any process. Customer service is long and difficult journey in that, you need to satisfy each customer that uses your products/services.

An unknown author once said that “Customer complaints are schoolbooks from which we learn.” So learn to be grateful for complaints as they will help you to grow.

I don’t know yet when I will go back to this restaurant but I hereby solemnly promise to write about that future experience…hopefully, it will be a positive one.

The author is a customer service consultant working in Rwanda

sidossou@theservicemag.com