Business leaders often speak of ‘ensuring the best customer experience’ and ‘achieving world-class service levels’, but these ideas are no longer just ideas. In today’s market, these are now non-negotiables and the sooner businesses instil a true service culture, the better.
Leading provider of open technology solutions, Obsidian Systems has secured a front-running position in the market because ever since it began operations, it has placed a premium on customer service.
Deon Lottering, a Red Hat Certified Engineer and Managed Services Consultant at Obsidian Systems, is part of the company’s team that looks after customer relationships.
He explains that in the world of enterprise technology services delivery, actions speak a whole lot louder than words.
Genuine customer service is about a true attempt to “place oneself in the shoes of your customer” and embark on a journey with them. The main role of a services provider is to be a guide, mentor and partner, assisting customers with the entire experience, all requisite processes and procedures.
“If the client is happy, I am happy … if a client is not happy, I am not happy. I will not step away from a problem until it is resolved.”
Lottering says one of the major challenges in the industry, especially when it comes to customer-facing services, is that the focus is almost inevitably and immediately on the financial or monetary aspect of the service level agreement.
That is not Obsidian Systems’ modus operandi. Lottering explains that his approach is the same as that of the company – the focus is on service, on customer experience and once everyone is happy, then discussions can turn to money.
“The focus must be support-and service driven, instead of monetary and billing driven,” adds Lottering.
But there is a psychology involved in the service-rendered-service-accepted-and-paid market. This is particularly true of the technology services market.
As Lottering explains, no matter how much technology services have evolved, the basic principles of business apply.
So, if a client contacts the services provider and is in a panic because of a crisis – and is subsequently treated with patience and professional services – they will definitely remember the experience and for the right reasons. It means that when it comes to payment, there is virtually no chance of any problems with payment.
But, if, in the same scenario, the service provider is impatient and dismissive, the client will also remember this and struggle to justify expedient payment for the service.
Lottering says there is a chain reaction – bad service leads to problems with remuneration. It is equally true in the event of quick, efficient service and clients that are quick and hassle-free with payment.
Experience counts
While there is no doubt that technology has changed, customer services and has had a major impact on approach and mindset, the basic premise for technology engineers is that over time and with experience, they are able to accurately prioritise the level of urgency of requests and how resources are applied.
This helps a great deal because however much customer services have changed, over-zealous and unreasonable clients are always a challenge, and there is a constant demand for attention and consistency.
Irrespective, technical engineers of the calibre of Lottering representing market leaders like Obsidian Systems, must keep on top of skills requirements, changes in technology, solutions, best practices, regulation and much more.
The secret to success? For Lottering it is: “Keep the customer happy… not like a king… but always happy!”
Lottering says there is a chain reaction – bad service leads to problems with remuneration. It is equally true in the event of quick, efficient service and clients that are obstinate with payment.
Experience counts
While there is no doubt that technology has changed, customer services and has had a major impact on approach and mindset, the basic premise for technology engineers is that over time and with experience, they are able to accurately prioritise the level of urgency of requests and how resources are applied.
This helps a great deal because however customer services have changed, over-zealous and unreasonable clients are always a challenge, and there is a constant demand for attention and consistency.
Irrespective, technical engineers of the calibre of Lottering representing market leaders like Obsidian Systems, must keep on top of skills requirements, changes in technology, solutions, best practices, regulation and much more.
The secret to success? For Lottering it is: “Keep the customer happy… not like a king… but always happy!”