How to get some satisfaction

By SIMON HENDERY marketing writer

Business speaker and writer Dr Ian Brooks has asked the same question to audiences in six countries - as a customer, have you had a disappointing experience in the past few weeks?

"I'd get anywhere from 60 to 80 per cent of an audience put their hands up," said Brooks.

"And that's in just about any industry or market segment you want to talk about."

Solving the problem of customer dissatisfaction is the subject of Brooks' latest book, and a new quality assurance programme he has helped develop for assessment agency Telarc.

Government-owned Telarc specialises in certification for systems such as the international ISO9000 standards.

Its new programme, called Customer 1st, is aimed at a more mainstream business market, and is based on the premise that retaining existing customers is the best way to expand a business.

Under the programme, launched next week, Telarc assessors visit a business, talk to its staff and customers, and prepare an evaluation for management, which includes a star rating and a score out of 500.

While ISO9000 registrations in New Zealand are static, Telarc chief executive Peter Rose said the inception of Customer 1st was not a reaction to that. ISO9000 was aimed at top-end, particularly export-focused businesses, but Customer 1st was aimed at the mainstream business market.

It would cost firms a minimum of about $2500 to go through the review process, depending on the time assessors spent interviewing staff and customers.

Brooks, responsible for Customer 1st's ongoing development and training of assessors, says businesses at different stages of implementing a quality system will take different lessons from the programme.

"There's just such a need for switched-on business people to know whether the things they think they have implemented in their organisation are actually working. Then we have a second group who know they ought to be doing something but they're not sure what, so we are giving them a model they can use."

Brooks' 12th book, Putting the Customer First, is tied in with the programme. It is a light, 100-page read about a fictitious firm which calls on the programme after a period of soul-searching over its deteriorating relationships with its customers.

He said the book stands alone as a resource for improving customer relationships, but also works as a marketing tool for Customer 1st. The fictional case study was an accessible way to demonstrate how the programme works, he said.

* Customer 1st will be launched at a breakfast function in Auckland next Friday. Tickets are $95 and available by calling 0800 55 99 55.

A few tips Giving customers a great experience

* Tell customers the kind of experience they can expect.

* Provide a safe, friendly, welcoming and comfortable environment.

* Spend time understanding their needs.

* Give them options and help them to make the right choice.

* Take orders efficiently.

* Provide products and services on time, in full and to specification.

* Disputes should be handled to the customer's satisfaction.

* Ensure ongoing contact with customers.

* Follow up to make sure they are happy.

* Source: Abridged from Putting the Customer First by Ian Brooks.