CUSTOMER SATISFACTION vs CUSTOMER STARVATION

Imoni me,

I am excited to speak to you in Urhobo language of Delta State, South-Southern Nigeria, all I have said is my people. I have always reiterated it that Nigeria is richly blessed in her diversity. It is quite unfortunate that our people have through greed devoured this nation. May the Lord rescue our nation. I remember studying about corruption over the weekend and it seems this nation’s wheel of progress is entangled in it.

I would want to say that the discussion of today can be broken into many parts but let’s study it in bit. Then, this situation might be peculiar to Nigeria, if you are not within this locale, you might not understand what I am saying but I know you would be able to apply it to other areas of life.

When the government felt they can no more provide social services; they privatized the companies handling those services, opened it up for investment by both foreigners and Nigerian entrepreneurs. With the advent of these companies, employment opportunities increased; people were employed as customer service officers. This implies that the customers needs to catered for, however, many of these companies either satisfy or starve their customer through the service they provide. Let’s read, customer satisfaction versus customer starvation.

Customer Starvation is a state when customers are paying for services that are not given to customers. It gets annoying being delayed for a flight without having an apology from the airline official; having electricity cut while exorbitant bills are brought to one’s house; paying for toll and the role remains unmotorable; expending money on airtime and you cannot make a call and many more. Customer starvation is compounded by rude customer service.

Customer Satisfaction is a state in which customers are given the desires service across all the departments of the provider. It has been seen that lapses within the system are directed to the customer service department to handle. At such points, the customer service department is overworked while innocent staff apologize for what they did not cause. Customer satisfaction is a point when the customer becomes loyal to your brand and thus introduces your product or service to others. Customer satisfaction is what companies should strive to attain at all times.

Whatever service you provide, keep this Yoruba proverb in mind, “oro tutu ni yoo obi lapo; oro lile ni yoo ida ninu apo” meaning, “good words are complemented while insult remove the sword from the sheath. You owe your customers explanations when your service delivery is below standard. It is more difficult to win a customer than to lose one; for every customer that is lost; there are other five potential customers that can walk away. Be proactive than being reactive in provision of service. Let’s stop starvation  and start satisfaction of our customers.

Lest I forget, welcome you to a new month. May it be a new month of joyful thanksgiving for us all.

Cheers!