No Excuses

I worked in a startup for more than 11 years and witnessed its evolution. As we grew, we recruited more professionals to support the growth. This was critical to have the required checks and balances. When we hired a team of Audit, Compliance, and Risk Management professionals, they insisted that we should have more Standard Operating Procedures, Policies, Manuals, and Best Practice Codes. They said that we should “act and operate like a real corporation.” They had a valid argument, we were licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and publicly traded on both Bahrain and Kuwait Stock Exchanges.

And since they had the backing of the Board’s Audit Committee, Board of Directors and the External Auditors, we had no choice but to establish these documents. It was an uphill battle. Our resources were already stretched. Our soldiers were exhausted & wounded. We exerted extra efforts for years to produce the many documents to the satisfaction of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Departments. They were happy with that. As I reflect today, they have missed a vital policy:

How to deal with our customers?

After all, if you do not take care of your customers, your competitors will! Perhaps my previous employer was an isolated case; because I know of many companies that have dedicated policies about their customers. Most of them overdo these policies. Their policies run into many pages. Now, whether they apply them or not is another matter. In my opinion, in most cases, they are not used. They are just archived to check off the internal & external requirements.

Unfortunately, this is our sad reality. Just take a look around on Social Media Accounts of companies, and you will see the many complaints customers have on service. Take this as an example, from an airline customer on Instagram:

“I have been waiting for three months for you to contact me about my complaint. I called you several times, and every time you say, we will come back to you. I sent you a message on Twitter, and no one responded. Please listen to the complaints from your customers.”

We should not have our customers beg for our attention when they have complaints. We should welcome their complaints with open arms and ears. We should thank them for complaining because they could switch to our competitors effortlessly!

Companies should move from the compliance paradigm to the commitment paradigm. They should not have policies for the sake of having policies to satisfy Corporate Governance & Market Best Practices requirements. The creation of these documents should come from the conviction that serving customers better is the key to more success. 

Now, if you ask me what the best customer service policy that I have seen so far is? My answer is this: It is the policy of a small cargo company that I stumbled upon in one of the narrow streets of the Old Manama Souq. Its policy does not run into many pages. They can easily teach it to their employees. And, they remind their employees of it daily. Not only that, but they also display it proudly at the entrance of the company. The policy is so simple. It is five words:

We deliver cargo, not excuses.

Mohamed Isa is an Award-Winning Speaker & 4-Time Amazon Bestselling Author. He is the author or the Karak Series on Customer Service. You can reach him on Instagram at “MohamedIsa3ds.”