Intl.MSC Staff Associate (Proprietary of Intl.MSC)

Customer Service and Support is the key element in today’s business env- ironment. In both the manufacturing sector and the service sector, It is imperative that this area is error free and of highest quality. From the first contact through the final sale and beyond, today’s customer only expects the best in service and support.
 
In order to be operational in today’s tough business environment, it is a prerequisite for manufacturers to reserve current industry codes and stan-dards in their production quality and at the same time have advanced qua-lity customer support and service.
 
Today’s customer has unlimited choices and it is only fair for them to expect the best in everything. With the opportunity of cross border trade and inte- rnet under the Global economy, customers are fully aware of the choices available to them.
It is very easy for them to shop around for   their product and change
 business relationships. Sustaining customer relationships and retaining old customers is a major challenge for today’s businesses. For customer rete-ntion, it is very essential for manufacturers to maintain advanced quality product and customer support and service.
 
In the service sector, it is absolutely essential that a company fully satisfies the customer with their main service. It is also absolutely essential that the secondary customer support and service is as error free and of advanced quality as your main offering. In this age of information, a slight lapse in quality standards results in negative perception and publicity followed by downfall of a business. 

In the United States most of the GNP (Gross National Product) is generated by the service sector; hence there is a strong customer service quality competition amongst these companies. A few businesses such as “WalM-art” have raised the service standards and other companies are benchma-rking them. 

Intl.MSC staff conducted a cross sectional study of manufacturing and service companies in the mid-west of United States to get their views on this issue. Most of the companies which were part of the study responded that “today’s customer is the most informed and demanding shopper ever and at all levels of the distribution chain, demands only the best support and service”. They were also of the opinion that in “today’s business envir-onment advanced quality support and service is very critical to succeed”. 

There are many small to medium sized businesses even today which do not pay enough attention, time and money in this area. They feel there busin-ess is small in scale and so they do not need to worry about this factor too much. This is a wrong notion. Small businesses need to focus on customer support and service the same way as big businesses do. After all the clie-nts of small businesses also have access to free information and opportun-ities under a Global economy and know what is available out there. 

In conclusion, it can be said that advanced quality customer service and support is the key factor in today’s business environment. The size of the business does not matter. The customer expects the best from all the bus-inesses, small medium or large.