While research dictates that one unhappy customer will tell an average of 21 people about their bad experience, a happy customer will only tell an average of two people about their good experience. This goes to show that delivering phenomenal customer service has never been more important.

“The customer is king”, as the old saying goes, and in order to truly be able to put the customer first, MD of Trinitas Consulting Frances Wright insists that high standards need to be upheld in every facet of the business that concerns the customer. She says that a company can spends thousands on marketing their business, but at the end of the day it all translates into nothing if an action as simple as a call not being returned or a phone being allowed to ring off the hook is overlooked.

Because operations, marketing and operational consulting services company Trinitas Consulting exists solely to make its clients successful at what they do, customer service penetrates the entire ethos of the company. Word that Wright is somewhat of a sales whiz has spread around the Raizcorp Group, of which Trinitas is a part, yet the MD insists that she has never had to make a cold call in her life.

“Through servicing our clients well, and through word of mouth, the business has come to us,” she elaborates. “In order to achieve good customer service, I think you need to have humility. Someone that phones you today could be a customer of yours tomorrow, so you need to make sure you treat them like that.”

The key behind good customer service, according to Wright, is communication. This entails, first of all, extracting exactly what the customer’s requirements are. One can deliver wonderful work, but unless it’s exactly what the customer wanted, you’re not providing a good service. Second of all, Wright advises companies to be careful of too much talking and not enough listening. Constant communication and a thorough understanding of your client’s wants and needs cannot be compromised on.

Another non-negotiable sphere in any business is having proper processes as well as effective checks and balances in place. Often companies make the mistake of relying too heavily on software to get the job done, but Wright is adamant that, while the right software for a business could enhance the personal touch it gives its clients, software should never replace the human element.

“Too often you see businesses built around the software they run, when it should be the other way around,” she explains. “Internally, you often see employees becoming so focussed on the software that they don’t allow their customers any flexibility. The software of a business should never be the focus, it’s merely a tool to achieve quality and work flow.”

In order to truly treat customers like kings, any business must essentially abide by three golden rules – listen to what their customers need and want, deliver a consistent high quality of work and have the necessary checks and balances in place to ensure that if mistakes are made, they are quickly rectified.

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