Some Companies Thrive While Others Decline
Many business experts cite two main reasons when it comes to business failure: (1) Lack of capital, money and (2) lack of management. While those are good indicators, there are other management aspects to take into account. Furthermore, several factors should be taken into consideration. Some factors include practical employee training so everyone is on the same page, employee satisfaction and retention, attentive customer service, satisfaction, and customer retention. A company may have quality products or services but is unlikely to thrive if its management does not focus on providing exemplary service. Contemporary business managers should be one step ahead of rivals to gain competitive advantages. In any given year, several business organizations would stand out as players regarding success and customer satisfaction.
The Difference
Some business organizations can remain on top for years. They stay on top by satisfying their stakeholders, who are customers, employees, and suppliers. Other companies struggle to keep in operation and do not enjoy profitable seasons.
Business organizations tend to focus on managing traditionally, where management strives to achieve goals and objectives to obtain a positive bottom line during any given year or on a given day. While traditional management is the commonly known method, business organizations have the ability to develop or implement methods that can lead to better decision-making.
Generally, management is about strategizing to get positive results after making sound decisions and delivering quality service. It is important for business owners, CEOs, and managers to understand that today’s clients don’t want to wait. Those days of operating a business only Monday to Friday or responding to customers’ emails, and requests within 24-48 hours need to change. A business organization is able to achieve positive results by differentiating from its competitors. When acquiring goods or services from a company, customers look for quality, service, and value. Management should use a value proposition that satisfies purchasers’ wants and needs at prices consumers deem good and valuable. The greater the value delivered (V) and the lesser the price in the mind of customers (P), the more attractive the value proposition is to consumers. The General Manager ought to focus on providing the utmost service to customers as it entails precise direction from the administration.
How To Excel
Management is responsible for the success or failure of a business organization. For example, the general manager (GM) plays a pivotal role in managing customer service in the hospitality industry. The GM ensures all stakeholders’ satisfaction and ensures the organization meets its financial goals and customers’ expectations. The role of a general manager is to lead an organization in a direction where goals and objectives are achieved collectively. The general manager is like a ship’s captain or any large corporation’s CEO. That manager is ultimately responsible for organizational performance. As manager of the future, the role also includes having a good understanding of new entrants into the workforce. Some of the skills the future manager needs include people, technical, human, and certainly leadership skills. Every manager needs people skills in order to manage. People skills prepare managers to interact with employees, customers, or members of the community. Similarly, each manager needs technical skills because he or she should know how to perform tasks in all departments. Therefore, the manager can function according to established standards.
Know To Grow Together
To be effective, the manager must know how to perform the tasks he or she encourages employees to perform. That way, the manager can help or fill in for an employee when an emergency occurs. From a broader perspective, the GM needs to be knowledgeable about all departments, including, but not limited to, accounting, guest relations, human resources, finance, marketing, operations, and shipping & delivering. If the GM does not learn essential skills, he or she may not be able to manage accurately, and the level of service may deteriorate. The general or departmental manager needs human skills to negotiate with employees, and people across the board.
Lead To Succeed
The general management needs leadership skills to lead and persuade, especially when a change is about to take place. The general manager needs to have a broader concept of customer service and focus on strategic areas. The areas of knowledge which may demand greater skills from a general manager now and in the future are (1) strategies to manage Generation Y and Gen Z, (2) becoming technologically savvy, and (3) knowing how to effectively use social media for marketing as well as real-time interaction with customers and employees. A general manager entails conceptual and strategic thinking to make an establishment successful. There are endless challenges, but managing an organization such as a hotel, restaurant, or food truck can be smooth if one approaches it with a positive attitude.
Lead To Succeed
Depending on the industry or type of business, the general manager bears other titles such as store manager, unit manager, managing director, general partner, VP, etc. No matter the designation, the manager must ensure everything goes right from the start. Business Philosopher Peter Drucker once said, “Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” When a business such as a bank or a supermarket opens in the morning, the manager should ensure that employees are ready to create memorable moments by providing outstanding service to consumers.
Creating a memorable moment for every customer means serving in a fast-paced environment, ensuring the system runs smoothly. The cashier or teller has the right amount to give change, and the payment terminal is fully operational, so the customer does not have to wait. Every management decision encompasses challenges; a strategic approach is to find ways of overcoming challenges as they are likely to arise at any time. The first impression makes or breaks a mutual business relationship between customers and employees.
Think About The Customer
Management is responsible for setting the tone; if management neglects, the service customers receive may be acceptable, but not right from the start. This article presents a unique perspective on managing customer service effectively. It details the importance of helping an organization achieve its bottom line. It includes details most managers take for granted, which are needed to manage a business. Management planning encompasses making organizational decisions from initial planning to delivering outstanding customer service to clients. Effective management entails strategic planning and proper execution. Customer service is an ongoing development, and management should pay continuous attention. Every customer has his or her own expectations of a business organization. If customers complain, management ought to follow up to ensure that it will not happen again.
Have A Global Mindset
Today’s managers need to have global views. They need international views because internationalization is here to stay, and augmenting customer service is a way of keeping it in place. For many years, the hospitality industry has been known as a lodging facility where customers could have a place to stay. It has also been known as a food or beverage establishment where patrons could go visit to eat or drink. Although the factors mentioned above contribute to a level of efficacy, management needs to be aware that today’s consumers expect a level of service beyond that. As visitors walk through the front lobby of a hotel, hospital, law firm, or school, the first department they come in contact with is the front desk (reception or registration area), and a nice welcome is a standard expectation. Whether a service establishment offers self-check-in or through the assistance of an agent, acknowledging every customer is paramount.
Be Adaptive
Concerning service, the question becomes, what is managing customer service in a hospitable way? Customer service has several definitions encompassing satisfying a customer’s wants or needs, being pleasant, and providing the best to those with VIP status because they spend more. It has been defined as the practice by which a business provides its amenities, services, or products in a way that permits the purchaser or consumer to access them in the most efficient, satisfying, and pleasurable manner. Management should adopt a definition that fits the organization. Customer service is a process of serving attentively.
Managing customer service is a broad concept; it is not only a group of activities that might include welcoming the customer, smiling, or asking if one needs help. It is about operational planning as well. Many activities need to occur before employees are ready to serve. Management is the ability to manage employees effectively so they can serve every customer most efficiently. Good customer service starts at the top, at the corporate level, and continues to the unit or store level. Managers need to be knowledgeable, proficient, and willing to assist and guide employees on how to be attentive and deliver impeccable customer service. An organization needs enthusiastic employees to deliver service to its internal and external customers. Delivering the service should satisfy all stakeholders’ well-known and unknown needs. The objective should be to get customers to return to the business establishment ultimately. Customer service is being attentive.
Treat Customers As VIPS
All customers should be treated equally as very important persons (VIPs) regardless of how much they spend. That way, an organization can distinguish itself from the rest. It is not only about serving someone taking a cruise, staying in a hotel, shopping at a high-end mall, eating at elegant restaurants, studying at a prestigious school, or buying the most expensive car. It is advisable to have a system in place to deliver consistent service to all customers. Attentive service is about demonstrating courtesy whenever a member of an organization interacts with every client. Attentive customer service is necessary for every company. Hospitality includes transportation such as an airline, a tour bus-taxi, a limousine, or a tourist vendor. Other entities include golf clubs and country clubs; the hospitality business is very complex because what a hotel sells daily is a room or a meeting space. When a place or product goes unsold or a meeting space such as a banquet hall or conference room unrented, revenue is lost. It means that hospitality products are perishable, and services are intangible. In hospitality, neglecting to provide good service may also negatively impact a sudden loss of revenue on any given day.
Managing customer service effectively across the board is necessary because of the inability to re-price after a certain time. A retail store can change prices the next day, and still, it breaks even as it can sell non-perishable products later. Customer service is essential to any business organization. An organization, whether it is a retail store, a bank, a supermarket, a taxi company, a law firm, a healthcare facility, a car dealership, a repair shop, a construction firm, a real estate firm, an entertaining firm, an airport, a government agency, an online company, or an educational institution needs to provide attentive service by anticipating customer needs.
Good Service In Every Setting
In an educational setting, the librarian anticipates customer needs by turning computers on and ensuring the printer works. The objective should always be to have the printer stocked with paper and plenty of ink and ensure it prints at a standard speed. Why? Students are not just students; they are customers who have service expectations. Some students procrastinate, but one should not blame them because they are customers! Sometimes, some students wait until the last minute to submit or print their assignments for cultural reasons. In some cultures, running late is how people operate; a section later provides more details about global cultures.
Meanwhile, those students would feel very disappointed if they are running late for class, stop by the library, have to wait for library computers to turn on, and find out that the printer is either “out of service” that should never be or out of paper, or ink. Attentive service is vital because customers evaluate products, goods, and services every day, not only in terms of the price they pay but the type of service they receive. Management handles the entire organization. If management is not on board or committed to excellence, then employees are unlikely to follow directions in ways the organization can meet its service objectives. Attentiveness Management should focus on service attentiveness to create “Wow” moments and entice others through existing customers. When customers believe the service level exceeds their expectations, they are likely to return or recommend the business entity. Once customers feel a company exceeds their expectations, they are likely to share with friends.
Customers Can Help You
Clients can be good marketing assets; for that reason, a business organization should take advantage of them by always exceeding customer service. It is important to perceive that customers can talk with their feet. One might ask how it could be possible if a human only has five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. It is possible because if customers do not like the service they receive, they are likely to leave and go to the competitors down the street. Not all customers whine about the service they receive. Some consumers are diplomatic and might deem expressing complaints as offending somebody. Unfortunately, those customers disappear, and management may not learn why. Certain factors, such as branding, reputation, and public perception, keep a CEO or general manager up all night. If the level of service a business establishment provides is not going right, management must strategize to identify any discrepancies. When it occurs, management ought to develop a course of action to revitalize service.
Be Proactive And Careful
It could work well as the reputation might take a long time to arrive but could disappear overnight or in real time. Enhancing customer service should be one of the top priorities for management and employees. The strategic planning process needs to involve attentive customer service in every business because customers are the ones that bring revenue to an organization. Research shows that the food service, as well as the hospitality industry, is a people business. Whether it is an eatery establishment, a bank, or a retail store, the manager cannot simply unlock the door and wait for a cash register to ring without someone purchasing something.
A business organization can offer products or services that customers need or have a desire for, but if it does not pay attention to detail, it may not do well. It is vital to notice that if its service does not meet or exceed customers’ expectations, it may not meet its revenue projections. Ultimately, it is about keeping customers in mind so a business can thrive. If the management pays attention to it, the business organization can succeed; if not, it can decline.
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