How many international companies do we have in Egypt? Many of course; each of the companies’ presidents & CEO’s continue to assure the public and the employees of the importance of customer service. However do they truly focus on this significant issue as they focus on the company GOP or market share?! The answer is a big NO, they simply hire or promote a manager to handle this “bloody” issue, whom sometimes; are either not qualified, or over qualified to contend with such a post, depending on his/her background... “For instance, a director of finance is surely the wrong person to handle customer service issues”. The importance of customer satisfaction is perceptible when you realize that without customers, you simply don’t have a business. Statistics confirm that a single unsatisfied customer can send more business away from your company than 10 satisfied customers.

The more you focus on customer retention and customer support, the more long-term business you’ll acquire. Thus, providing evidence that it’s worth it to focus on customer satisfaction strategies, no matter how large or small your company is. Here are the findings of a small study that I have asked my research department in CS&T hospitality to run which support what is mentioned above:

1- Who Has The Worst Customer Service in Egypt?
30 % went to RETAILS SHOPS, 29% went to MOBILE COMPANIES, while 25 % went to BANK SERVICES...

2- From a customer opinion, what drives you Crazy?
45 % went to “STAFF RUDENESS”, 40% went to “IGNORING ANSWERING CUSTOMER REQUESTS AND HANDLING COMPLAINTS” while 20% went to “UNTRAINED STAFF”.

In our next issue, we’ll provide you an exclusive case study for poor customer service, and how service and customer requests are handled over a 4 month period within one of these international companies in Egypt...