Smart Business Magazine, June 2013

18 Smart Business Philadelphia June 2013 Relationship building How to create a customer driven culture Growing a business in todays environment is as challenging as ever especially with relatively stagnant overall economic growth Thats why its more important than ever to hold onto existing customers According to Christopher F Meshginpoosh a director in the Audit Accounting practice at Kreischer Miller companies frequently spend too much time trying to win new customers and not enough trying to hang onto existing customers Smart Business spoke with Meshginpoosh about techniques that companies can use to create an organization where every employee is driven to meet the needs of its customers Why do some companies struggle with customer service Its often a function of a lack of processes that ingrain and reinforce the importance of customer service When an entrepreneur starts a new business he or she understands the value of customer relationships because he or she worked hard for those relationships and cant afford to lose them However as the company grows employees are added who lack that same perspective Without formal processes training documented expectations reward systems etc the focus on customer service can gradually erode Additionally all too often companies treat customer service like a department For the record I didnt come up with that its on the website of Zappos a company with an almost legendary commitment to customer service Every employee has the ability to strengthen or damage a customer relationship so its important for companies to make sure they hire people who have demonstrated an ability to put customers first What steps can management take to improve customer service Thats an easy one Look in the mirror If management wants every person in the organization to demonstrate the importance of customer service then the first step is to make sure that they demonstrate it And that doesnt just mean managers of the sales or customer service functions If you want happy employees who thrive on meeting or exceeding the needs of customers then managers in charge of production human resources administration and other functions also must walk the walk How can companies reinforce the importance of customer service One easy way is to publicly recognize those who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to customer service Do you have an employee who went out of his or her way to solve a problem for a customer Dont just tell that person tell everyone Additionally make sure reward systems and incentive programs include explicit customer service goals While some people seem to have an innate ability to want to make customers happy others may need a little additional motivation As a result its important to ensure that annual reviews and compensation programs include explicit customer service objectives If your reward systems simply focus on metrics like profitability or efficiency then you run the risk of driving short term profits at the risk of long term customer losses How do you know if your efforts are moving the needle While there are many formal methods such as customer service surveys or monitoring customer service metrics one easy way is to routinely have your employees ask a simple question What did I do to add value to the customer relationship Everyone gets bogged down in the details once in a while but they should still be able to step back and determine whether their actions strengthened or damaged a customer relationship If they cant routinely point to actions that strengthened a relationship then theres room for improvement If they can then theyre well on their way to creating strong lasting customer relationships CHRISTOPHER F MESHGINPOOSH Director Audit Accounting Kreischer Miller 215 441 4600 cmeshginpoosh@ kmco com Insights Accounting Consulting is brought to you by Kreischer Miller WEBSITE For news tools and other resources related to this and other accounting and consulting issues visit www kmco com resource center INSIGHTS ACCOUNTING CONSULTING