Service in a competitive environment

We have become a service economy. Yet few organisations are truly delighting their customers. Over recent years, organisations have places increasing emphasis on customer service as a means of gaining competitive advantage.

Peter Drucker once say, "An organisation's ability to remain in business is a function of its competitiveness and its ability to win customers from the competition."

Customer is therefore the foundation of the business and keeps it in existence.

As competition has become more global and more intense, many organisations have realised that they cannot compete on price alone. It is in these marketplaces that many companies have developed a strategy of providing superior customer care to differentiate their products and services.

Benefits of a customer-centred organisation:

• differentiate itself from the competition
• improve its image in the eyes of the customer
• minimise price sensitivity
• improve profitability
• increase customer satisfaction and retention
• achieve a maximum number of advocates for the company
• enhance its reputation
• improve staff morale
• increase employee satisfaction and retention
• increase productivity
• reduce costs
• encourage employee participation
• create a reputation for being a caring, customer-oriented company
• foster internal customer/ supplier relationships
• bring about continuous improvements to the operation of the company