Fiendliness is fine, but how about a little efficiency?

Fiendliness is fine, but how about a little efficiency?

By Elizabeth Hermann

JAKARTA (JP): Once again a shop assistant flashed a friendly smile but shook her head. Once again there was no skirt or jacket in my size. Another afternoon wasted in trying to buy smart medium-priced business suits.

There were plenty of lovely suits to be had, and just what we wanted, but they were all to small. Nothing in our bule sizes to be had in two malls. Granted we are both "extra outsize" by Indonesian sizing, but by 'orang bule' standards we are still rather average.

Both places were international standard malls. The department stores and boutiques are international standard shops. The malls are situated in areas where expatriate residents and foreign tourists shop. Why are these stores, and the clothing manufacturers that stock these stores, ignoring the demands of a market and the purchasing power that is clearly there? Why are they not responsive to it?

Okay, so there is a limited expatriate market. But there are also larger Indonesian ladies out there who must also want to buy ready-made clothes. What do they do for clothes? Like us, they must have given up on trying to buy clothes in Jakarta shops. Do they shop overseas or do they turn to the services of a dressmaker or tailor?

Global competition

This set me off thinking about progress, prosperity and global competitiveness. Friendliness is not enough in an emerging marketplace. Quality products and services are the result of an effective response to the customer's wants and needs. My colleague and I needed those shop assistants to say, "No, we don't have your size but give us your name and telephone number and we will try to get it. We will pass your request on to the buyer, factory, designer." In other words, they will pass your request on to anybody who will respond to the market demands.

But nothing of the sort happens. A very friendly smile. A giggle. A "tidak ada!" And the skirts were rearranged very carefully and neatly on the rack in front of us as if we had upset the good order of things by trying them on.

Frustrated once again, we drowned our sorrows in coffee and cake. Now the cafe blues. A friendly smile from the waiter but no menu till we asked for it. Excellent coffee, delicious cake and attract the cheerful waiter's eye to get the bill which is still a long time coming. Then the long wait for the change. No, friendliness alone is not enough.

Don't tell me that I am an insensitive foreigner who should understand that in Indonesia there is jam karet. I've been here eleven years. I love it here and jam karet has its place. I'm writing this article about service attitudes that permeate Indonesian business and hold the country back in its development. Indonesia is trying to compete in global markets. Is the country being held back by being unresponsive to the demands for quality products and effective and quality services? In an emerging global marketplace, the competitive edge is won by effective and timely response to customer needs and wants.

What is quality?

There are three important aspects of quality: the effectiveness of the supplier's response to a customer's needs and concerns, the actual quality of the product itself, and the quality of the service the buyer feels should go with the purchase. It is the add-on value of effective customer service that makes for a delighted long-term customer. So, even if you have outstanding quality products at competitive prices, your company may lose its market edge if you are not supplying exactly what the customer wants, and if your delivery times and customer service are slow, unresponsive and ineffective.

Excellence is not static but an ever-evolving process of changing and adapting to meet customer needs. There is a lot of competition appearing every day. Indonesian products and services must prove their quality in a global market, and maintain this quality consistently. Filling the orders is not enough. Research has shown that market leaders deliver just what the customers want and, what's more, they deliver it on time.

Today all customers want value for their money. They want total quality products and they want total quality services. A 1991 Gallup Poll published by the American Society for Quality Control showed that in American, Germany and Japan, consumers were prepared to pay substantially more for a product of outstanding quality. They also wanted total quality services that were on time, efficient and effective. Friendliness was not considered to be enough. In this poll, consumers were less than 55 percent satisfied with services provided by their banks, shops, hospitals, hotels, airlines, insurance companies and auto repairers. They all wanted better, more timely and more responsive service than they were getting.

Quality improves competitiveness. If a product or service is less efficient or more backward than that its competitors, it will be harder in the long run to catch up with the competition who have been giving better service for a longer time. Beyond a certain point the product will not be able to catch up at all and will lose out on market share.

Quality also adds value to an organization in the form of improved company image and a reputation for costumer service. This, in turn, brings in repeat business, which, of course, brings more profit.

An investment of time and energy to give customers total quality service, is an investment that pays high dividends. The General Accounting Office in the USA, published statistics in May 1990, which show that all quality-conscious companies report increased profits, lower expenses, improved customer satisfaction, improved employee morale and salaries and increased market share.

This year is Human Resources Development Year in Indonesia. The country is placing high hopes on developing tourism and foreign trade. Re-examining the attitude towards the quality of products and the quality of customer services is a first step. Service industry personnel must be trained to be more responsive and more effective as well as being friendly. An investment must be made to improve the attitude towards customers, the response to customers' concerns and needs, the speed of execution of orders and the effective processing of information.

No, friendliness is not enough.

Elizabeth Hermann is trainer-consultant in Organizational Culture and Impression Management.