Customer Servces
This Ain't Chicken Feed!by Jeff Blackman
Some businesspeople forget that the customer or client is your reason for being in business! I assure you, this principle is never forgotten by Quill, one of the leading mail-order office supply or business-to-business catalog houses in North America. Located in Lincolnshire, Illinois, it has achieved tremendous growth and success.
Quill's founder and President, Jack Miller, began the business in 1956 with a phone in his father's chicken store and a $2,000 loan from his father-in-law. Today, this privately held company does annual sales in excess of $500 million. (Quill was recently sold to Staples.)
I've had the pleasure of knowing Jack Miller since the winter of 1987. His office is only 15 minutes from mine, so I've had the opportunity to join him for early breakfasts, as well as interview him on my radio-talk show. Jack, along with his brothers Harvey and Arnold, identify commitment to customers as one of the keys to the company's incredible track record. At Quill, customer service is not rhetoric. It's reality!
Jack's office is a testament to this basic business tenet and to his success. But perhaps what fascinates me most about his office is that he is surrounded by "ideas!" On countless engraved wooden plaques are sayings, quotes and slogans focusing on excellence, selling, commitment and service. One of them declares, "We're happy, but not satisfied!"
Jack and his brothers turn these slogans into measurable action. They are always looking for ways to better serve their 700,000+ customers. For example, Quill sets up customers with an electronic ordering system accessible through compatible personal computers and equipped with special software that Quill supplies. The system enables customers to not only benefit from computerized ordering, but to also review their past purchases, as well as share business ideas with Quill and their fellow customers.
Quill has also made a commitment to significantly enhance or speed-up their delivery system. Every stock order that is received by 6 p.m., is actually shipped that same day. An incredible commitment, when you realize that Quill handles over 12,000 orders each day. This commitment to speed and convenience is also practiced when your order is placed. Quill answers 93 percent of all incoming calls on the first ring.
The Bill of Rights
Quill's dedication to the customer is especially evident when walking through the halls of their corporate headquarters. Throughout its corridors are large framed posters that proclaim, "The Quill Customers' Bill of Rights." It was first published in 1970 when Quill had 32 employees. It was restated, approved and reprinted in the Quill catalog on April 1, 1987 when Quill had grown to more than 850 employees. Today, Quill has over 1,200 employees. Here it is:
The Quill Customers' Bill of Rights
The undersigned officers and the more than 850 employees of Quill Corporation express a desire to clearly state the principles and ideals which guide all of us at Quill in our relationship with our customers.
We feel this unusual step is necessary at this time because we find ourselves when we are customers, both as individuals and as a company, frequently dissatisfied with the way we are treated. Disinterest, discourteousness, bad service, late deliveries and just plain bad manners are too common.
We can't tell others how to run their businesses (except by not buying from them.) But we can and will run Quill as we feel a business should be run. Therefore, the following is a list of what we consider are the inalienable rights of our customers. We expect to be held to account whenever we deny any of these rights to any customer.
As a customer you are entitled to be treated like a real, individual, feeling Human Being, with friendliness, honesty and respect.
As a customer, you are entitled to full value for your money. When you buy a product you should feel assured that it was a good buy and that the product is exactly as it was represented to be.
As a customer, you are entitled to a complete guarantee of satisfaction. This is especially true when you buy the product sight unseen through the mail or over the phone.
As a customer, you are entitled to fast delivery. Unless otherwise indicated, the product should be shipped within 8 - 32 hours. In the event of a delay, you are entitled to immediate notification, along with an honest estimate of expected shipping date.
As a customer, you are entitled to speedy, courteous, knowledgeable answers on inquiries. You are entitled to all the help we can give in finding exactly the product or information needed.
As a customer, you are entitled to the privilege of being an individual and of dealing with individuals. If there is a question on your account, you are entitled to talk with or correspond with another individual so the question can be resolved immediately on the most mutually satisfactory basis possible.
As a customer, you are entitled to be treated exactly as we want to be treated when we are someone else's customer.
Profit points:
Create a Bill of Rights for your company and your customers.
Remember, it takes months, even years, to find, sell and serve a customer, but only seconds to lose one!
The "business" of business-is about acquisition, satisfaction and retention.
In the race for "service quality"...there is no finish-line!
Service...is the difference between a good company and a great company!
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Jeff Blackman. All right reserved. For information contact Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com.
