Customer Service – What Makes a Successful Project? by Chris Butler
what it produces and whether it will prosper. And what the customer buys and considers value is never a product. It is always a utility, that is what a product or service does for him…” Our challenge from this is to find out what our customers want. The true relationship with one’s customer is confirmed only when it is tested to the limit, when things get tough. My personal experience has seen a fantastic level of support from those people who put faith in our ability to deliver. What is written in a contract is one thing, but who are we actually working for, who actually has authority, or maybe it is who has the most influence. Is it the end client, the on site representative or maybe, even another third party that stands between one of these entities? The answer to this question can seriously impinge on the relationship with the “contracted customer”.
Or should I be asking “Does good customer service make a project a success?” Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no complaints with my customers (some of my customers customer’s; maybe) and with extraordinarily rare exceptions everyone in this industry is great to work with, dedicated and possibly, above all else obliging and cooperative. I am puzzled, though, at how to improve the relationship, how to give my customer what he wants and where does price start to effect customer satisfaction. In fact does the customer realise the cost of some “hidden” requirements, perhaps taken for granted in a larger conglomerate?
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Okay, So, I can now hear you asking “So what’s his grouse?” Well, I know we are only as good as our last job. It has long been my philosophy that no project is
a success unless the customer is happy. But, what does it take to please the customer these days? And, is the customer always right? Perhaps more to the point: does he know when he has got what he wants? The following quotation from Peter Druker (“the father of modern corporate management”) underlines my point. “It is the customer who determines what a business is. It is the customer alone whose willingness to pay for a goods or service converts economic resources into wealth, things into goods. What the business thinks it produces is not of first importance - especially not to the future of the business and to its success…What the customers thinks he is buying, what he considers value, is decisive - it determines what a business is,
In this day and age it is not just the engineering of a project we have to worry about; one is expected to understand and work to, heaven knows how many regulations, on Quality, Health & Safety, Environment, Waste Disposal, SOLAS and the vagaries of local government agencies, how does the small contractor cope? Now I can hear you say, “If you don’t want to do it, get out!” but that is not my point. How much is one prepared to pay for it? Maybe more importantly, how long will we get to put the paperwork in order? I have written here before about the costs involved in leaving things to the last minute and I will not go over that again. I have come to the conclusion things will not change. It is that sort of business. The fact is, though, that it all costs money. It costs money to be innovative and it costs money to be prepared. Procedures, reports, trials, development, modifications all have to be cultivated to the satisfaction of our customers, but not to their cost.