Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

I would have posted this earlier, but the server was in a "mood". Here is the grand finale of my interview with Tim Whelan....

In your experience, what is the most common mistake companies make when it comes to customer service? 

Failure to plan, or to even to discuss customer service issues other than when the customer’s complaint becomes a major thorn. Next would be to implement customer service policies where available. 94% (this includes western companies) of all companies either have no policy or it hasn't changed in the last 5 years. I remember working with one firm in Canada where they hadn't revisited their policy for over ten years and no one ever read it anyway, including the CEO and senior managers.

You currently work in Southeast Asia – What do you think is the
biggest difference between customer service in your part of the world and customer service in Western countries?   

Actually I work both sides of the Pacific Ocean and have for the last six years. The biggest difference in customer service is in the recognition of the customer and the customer’s value to the
organization or company. Not that a western company really show value or appreciates the customer anymore than the businesses in Asia, they just do it differently.

In the western business culture we have for sometime now seen the customer as an asset. A walking talking dollar sign that if deceived properly (marketing and sales) will march right into our bank account. Today this is being somewhat defined by the consumer and is changing radically as apposed to traditional 1980’s and 1990’s thinking. Most businesses and certainly most marketing and branding companies are having a hard time dealing with this.

In Asian markets there is no customer service unless it is part of a cultural integration such as with the Thai people and the Japanese cultures. Outside of these two cultures including Australia and New Zealand customer service doesn't really exist and in Australia and New Zealand out of ignorance and arrogance more than anything.

In Asian cultures it is much different and in Asian terms this would be primarily Chinese owned businesses since they are the primary business owners and industry leaders in all Asian countries. Good people, but their focus is very heavily stepped in traditional influences and family fulfillment and not in the business philosophies of the west.

In Asia everything is family focused. If you are starting a business it isn't because you want to be successful in that business for the sake of personal gain, it is because you are starting a family dynasty wherein everything that is done in the business is done for the sake of supporting that family for generations to come. Now that doesn't always happen because the success rate for a new business anywhere in Asia, with the exception of Singapore, is less than 1%, which is not real good. One of the main reasons is their focus on the customer or lack of it.

Generally they will not see a customer or the employee as central in their success. Remember their focus is on the family and meeting the family needs not the ustomers. Accordingly the customer should be glad that the store has their doors open for business. After all where would the customer go. The same issue is seen in product design. They design it or manufacture it and sell it without caring whether or not it has the functionality the customer needs. This is further illustrated in the almost absolute absence of any return or refund policies. It's pretty much what you see is what you get.

Recently was doing research in Malaysia and Singapore on the use of customer service policies. Less than .02% of all the businesses interviewed had a customer service policy and 100% of the companies any lacked formal or informal for that matter training program. Why because as mentioned before, the focus isn't on the customer. I could go on much longer on the differences. In some areas it is quite complex.

Every culture is different and in most cases outside of the Chinese businessman’s influence customer service is lacking mostly because of lack of insight and education. I have many, many Asian companies, individuals and small business owners that log onto my website and blog looking for answers in customer service. I regularly get visitors from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong, India and to a lesser amount from Korea, China, Indonesia and Cambodia. So they are at least looking and trying to learn. By the way, my largest group of followers is the USA and Canada and given our focus on customer service this should be rightly so.

So there you have it folks....a different perspective of customer service for those of us on the Western front.  I can agree with Tim that in many Asian countries, the focus is on the family.  You will see many family-owned businesses where all the family members contribute to the business.  In many places you may not even get a receipt for your purchase!

Again, thanks to Tim Whelan for the interview.  Visit Tim's blog at:  http://cdccustomerservice.blogspot.com/