Business Zen: Great customer service

Great customer service is key to doing good business.

You will have picked up that customer service is a theme right now in these articles – probably because it is becoming crucial in the face of an ever expanding competitive landscape.

Last Saturday I was in what could best be described as 'chore mode'. Mrs Bell had determined that the weekend was not for spending my waking hours perfecting the guitar parts on every musical work by Jeff Buckley, but rather it was for construction projects, weeding and labouring.

In today's world weekend warriors need to arm themselves with the correct and appropriate equipment, so on discovering that a previous purchase was not appropriate to achieve the massive weekend goals my uncle and I embarked on the often complex "return product to vendor exercise".

This was made ever more challenging because Mrs Bell, who purges all receipts from our abode, did not have any purchase documentation.

So this is a shout out to Clive and the team at Bunnings for the outstanding way in which our return request was processed and problems were solved.

Clear explanation and management of our requirements was a pillar of the service.

Time was also afforded to our request and I even got to call on years of working with Wholesale and Retail businesses to find a SKU ('Stock Keeping Unit') for the product in question.

In the end the complex was made simple and we were on our way. The next stop was the Gonville Garden Centre where we were served by the delightful ladies to satisfy our requirement for bird netting for another project.

In this case we were served by Jodie who knew her product so well that I came away with a new appreciation for the durability and malleability of netting.

The key to both interactions was that we left thinking 'I can come back here' because the service was top drawer.

There are so many places you can go to make a purchase. Quite why you would wait for a parcel to arrive on the doorstep (when the product can be sourced from a local retailer) is curious to me.

This is especially the case when real people can share expertise and direct you according to your needs and tastes.

The electronic transaction has algorithms to back it and tell you about other things you might like but, more often than not, they cannot in any way compare to a really attentive and skilled sales team.

The team at the Anzac Parade 4 Square continue to excel here, and they were our last stop.

The visit for an ice cream was not sanctioned by Mrs Bell but I have a relationship with the business which means they are a 'no brainer' for these types of purchases. A quick conversation with Mike had me updating the craft beer stocks at home.

The friendly welcome and banter – simple stuff really – coupled with informing me of new stock resulted in a bigger sale.

So, as Christmas approaches, the best investment in not solely in stock but in the people you have to look after your customers and working to exceed needs and expectations.