One of the services offered at Kusic and Kusic is our Business Evaluation Service. It’s similar to a secret shopper, but with a higher quality of evaluator who makes both observations and films the interaction between the customer and the service provider to eliminate subjectivity in the process. We are doing our part to maintain the high quality we have come to expect from the service industry.

The media has reported that it is not all good news with our service industry, at least in Vancouver, BC. The study pits the staff of a Vancouver hotel chain against that of its Beijing counterpart. Service staff in both countries exacted revenge on the customer in one form or another – in Canada by direct confrontation and in China, by reducing the quality of service to all customers. Kate Nasser presents an eye-opening account of the 25 worst customer service stories.

As a small business owner, I know that you can’t please everyone all the time. For the most part I have had an overall positive experience in Vancouver and in my worldly travels. That is not to say that there haven’t been issues here and there. The question is, how do you address reoccurring customer service problems?

Customer service has never been more vital to the reputation of a business, where one negative experience can be posted online and shared with millions of people in an instant. Years of diligent work establishing a solid reputation can be erased with one rude comment. Successful companies have a ‘Plan B’ for unexpected incidents that arise and effective managers or owners have quality control mechanisms in place to ensure that the overall customer experience is a positive one. Whether your quality control is a regimented and ongoing evaluation of your customer care, or utilizing customer service evaluations such as ours, your vigilance will ensure that your customers happy, your reputation intact and your business successful.

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