Oh My God! Customer is God!


Customer is God!



“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.
He is not dependent on us . We are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption on work, he is the purpose of it.
He is not an outsider on our business, but he is a part of it.
We are not doing him a favour by serving him,
He is doing a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so!
                                                               - Mahatma Gandhi

It is often said that the customer is always right or even that the customer is king.
The corresponding Japanese proverb says that the customer is God(in Japanese, “okyakusama wa kamisama desu”). In fact, even the word customer (kyakusama) expresses particular respect and veneration, as it means honored guest.
A prime source of customer satisfaction is the speed and care with which a customer's request is dealt with. Unfortunately, this responsibility is now being outsourced to people with no training and who do not take ownership of the customer.  Hence the customer is not guaranteed of prompt service when they dial a toll free number.  The customer obviously gives the business to a service provider who is reachable 24x7.  Be it a taxi service or in case of B2B deals in service industry.
Am sharing my own experience here: About a year ago, me and my family were visiting my relatives who stay about 30 km away from our locality (Bangalore Cantonment). We used the suburban train in the morning to reach Whitefield.  However, we could not use the train in the evening as it was jam-packed. We had to engage taxi service as there were no trains & we were pleasantly surprised that only OLA could offer cab/taxi service at that  late hour - but at 1 ½ times their regular rate – We took the service!
Last week, a customer called me well past office working hours for a certain logistic solution.  However they gave me the order within 15 minutes!! The customer was fully aware that my quote was higher – however they told me that the order was being given because I answered their call and offered them a workeable solution (like OLA cabs)  
What do Customers expect from you!
  • Quick Response & Quick resolution of issues   complaints
  • Being Polite and by offering High Quality of service:   The top reason customers would stop using a business was rude and incompetent staff.
  •  
  • Connect with your customers - Customers entering a store need to be welcomed in a friendly manner with a booming smile. ( Employees should be given more freedom and incentives which will make them happy and more likely to connect with customers)
  • Personal touch and Face-to-Face Contact  - This is critical especially for service industry who have Very Important  High Net worth Individuals  Corporates as customers 
  • Long-Term Commitment  ( this builds Trust in Customers regarding capabilities of the service provider)
  • Go The Extra Mile - Think about the best customer service experience you have ever had. I bet it involved a company or representative doing far more than what was expected of them.  Offering the customer a handwritten Thank you note ....
  • Allocating an exclusive point of contact / key account manager can assist in exceeding customer expectations

Shipping , Logistics , Supply chains largely rely on relationships and interactions between people. 

People BUY from people. It's enriching those relationships that lies at the heart of technology-enabled customer service tools.
Service providers are turning to newer customer engagement technologies, CRM technologies, social  media to inform, educate, and interact with customers. 
At the same time, traditional business applications are adding capabilities that allow customers to interact with the service provider right in the tool.



To summarize and conclude 
Customer service today is about creating memorable experiences that do the talking for you and your company. You can possible do away with your advertisement department if the customer service does the talking for your company
All you need to remember is to:
  • Take your time
  • Connect with the customer
  • Do more than the customer would expect
  • Take care of your employees - 
    • train them, keep them happy & give them the freedom so that they keep Customers happy. 

Please share your views and your own experiences and feedback in comments!
The author is a Shipping & logistics professional and can be reached on