The real value of good customer service

If you are a fan of consumer champion programmes like ‘Watchdog’ you will know that in many instances people aren’t complaining about an actual product or even the cost of it, but how they have been treated by the seller.

‘We give exceptional customer service’ is a boast that has been taken up and rolled out as a mantra by a whole host of different organisations. But how many of them actually understand what real customer service is? If you think about it, providing customers with a first class service should really be taken as read. But too many businesses are very happy to treat the customer with understanding and respect before they actually purchase, but far too few of them continue with that courtesy once they have the money safely in the bank!


The goal of every business should be to turn their customer into a repeat purchaser. Good service shows that you really value your customer and that you will fight hard to retain their loyalty. However it is often when things go wrong when a company’s real understanding of great customer service is put under the spotlight! If a customer complains and you go that extra mile to sort out the complaint, they will not only feel a greater loyalty to you but they will usually recommend you to others.

However if the company fobs off the customer or is unhelpful, then not only will the customer boycott the supplier, but they will simply spread the word to their friends and associates about how badly they have been treated. So what was initially a single customer complaint has now turned into a major PR disaster with both loss of reputation and loss of any future custom from them and their friends and associates.

At all Chartridge Conference Company venues, we know that customer care is the key to our success. As part of our induction process, Managing Director Peter Darnell personally runs a one-to-one training session with every new member of staff to instil the Chartridge customer care ethos. This is then reinforced by regular ongoing training sessions to ensure that every single member of staff, whether front of house, restaurant, cleaners and even our back office staff appreciate the importance of providing exceptional customer service day in, day out.

If there is a problem then we make sure that it is investigated immediately and resolved to our customer’s satisfaction. We know that the value of one unhappy customer far outweighs the cost of the issue they originally we unhappy with. Our reputation of giving every customer excellent value and superb service has been built over many years, but one instance of poor customer service can see it destroyed overnight!

images courtesy of  FreeDigitalimages.net

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