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Many times there is a debate on
government control or private initiative. Most of the time the topic
centers around cost and lowering expense. This one time let us focus
on service. When and where do you receive the best service?
Naturally there is no one correct answer, due to intangibles, but
there is a majority answer. I will offer you a 99 per cent answer,
and you can see if it matches your experiences.
Basically in life we are served
by government entities, large corporations, and small businesses.
Now 99 per cent of the time the small business will give you 100 per
cent better service. There is just no comparison, it is not even in
the same sphere. Why is that? Government has no real incentive to
serve the customer, there is no change in compensation, its not even
run for profit. Almost always government follows protocol or maybe
the vote. Anyway the governments main goal is to spend money, and
find a way to work shorter time for more money.
Now a big corporation, I will
let you in on a little secret, they're not much different than large
impersonal government. Sometimes a super sensitive aware employee
may actually try to give you extra service, but only to a point,
beyond which permission from above must be obtained and its quite
dicey about a beneficial outcome. Big business is better than big
government because somewhere in the dim background service and
profit unconsciously linked so service could be somewhat available.
The greatest service in the
world is in small business for some absolute tangible reasons. One
small business is a survival of the fittest, when you walk into a
small business you can bet it is one of the five percent that made
it, for 95 percent do not survive. Small business has to deliver the
product or service or it will not be there. Also in small business
you can hire and fire at your discretion. The more you can fire a
bad employee the better the service the customer gets. The customer
has real power or control, if he or she has a problem and you cannot
solve it, someone else will. Small business people often really
solve a customers problem at the scene. Small business know how the
customer feels and very often the customer tells him exactly how he
feels face to face. Should a customer communicate with a small
business or call the business he will always get a relatively quick
response. One other point, a small business can fire a bad customer,
yes there are unprofitable, trouble creating customers, and a small
business can fire the customer, freeing up more resources for the
good customer. The customer will always be better served and better
treated by a successful, vibrant small business. |
