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Interview | Mohamed Isa<br />
better customer service and create a<br />
customer-centric culture. You can copy<br />
products easily but you cannot do that<br />
for customer service excellence. It takes<br />
time, disciplined and consistent efforts,<br />
money and other resources to create a<br />
world-class customer service culture<br />
and practice.<br />
Tell me about your Chai Karak<br />
Manifesto?<br />
In my book I talk about nine<br />
principles for serving customers<br />
better. It is an acronym I dubbed “CHAI<br />
KARAK.” Each alphabet in the acronym<br />
represents a guiding principle on what<br />
it takes to provide excellent customer<br />
service. And they are:<br />
(C) Communicate with your customers<br />
(H) Honor your promises<br />
(A) Anticipate customers’ needs<br />
(I) Instill a customer-centric culture<br />
(K) Kindness goes a long way<br />
(A) Address complaints promptly<br />
(R) Research your competition<br />
(A) Attract passionate employees and<br />
(K) Keep trying harder.<br />
The last “K” is particularly important<br />
because you might be the leader in<br />
your industry now, but if you do not try<br />
harder, soon you will be just another<br />
follower!<br />
Where do you start to upgrade your<br />
customer service?<br />
Start with yourself as an employee.<br />
You do not have to obtain a permission<br />
to serve your customers better. You<br />
can and you should be the Customer<br />
Service Excellence Ambassador in your<br />
company. You have nothing to lose<br />
and everything to gain if you take and<br />
stick to this decision. As an author, I<br />
write a lot in café shops. There was one<br />
particular barista who always served<br />
me with a big smile and a sparkle in<br />
his eyes. I wrote about him in my social<br />
media network and I my post was<br />
noticed by his district manager. He has<br />
been recently promoted to be the trainer<br />
for the other baristas!<br />
Why should companies care about<br />
customer service?<br />
Companies are either created to<br />
fulfil existing customers’ needs or create<br />
new ones to fulfil them and ultimately<br />
make profit in the process. Therefore,<br />
providing excellent customer service<br />
can give you a competitive edge in your<br />
industry. Having this edge will help you<br />
in maximizing your shareholders’ value<br />
because you will build a larger loyal<br />
customers’ base who will buy repeatedly<br />
from you and recommend your products<br />
or services to their family members<br />
and friends. Referrals by customers are<br />
great because they cost you nothing and<br />
the prospects will naturally have lower<br />
resistance level in the sale process.<br />
What is next for you as an author?<br />
In <strong>2018</strong>, I will publish two more<br />
books. One of them will be co-authored<br />
with an internationally renowned<br />
personality and we expect it to hit<br />
Amazon’s Bestselling list in few<br />
categories. As for my Chai Karak<br />
franchise, I am planning to write a<br />
number of books on customer service.<br />
The second book will be called: “Chai<br />
Karak: More Customer Service Stories.”<br />
However, in this book, I will ask<br />
customers in Bahrain and beyond to<br />
share with me their own stories whether<br />
they are good, bad or ugly! My job will<br />
be to collate the stories, screen them,<br />
classify them, and embellish them for<br />
publishing. And of course, each story<br />
will be attributed to its contributor!<br />
March-April <strong>2018</strong><br />
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