At the age of 17, I left secretarial college with a handful of City & Guilds qualifications in shorthand, typing, and accounts, and got myself a job in a bank. I was lucky enough to work alongside one of the youngest and brightest branch managers the bank had, a no-nonsense Sheffield Wednesday mad Yorkshire man. He taught me a lot, but the single greatest lesson I learned from him was the importance of customer service. He talked about it to the point of obsession, and it became my obsession too. Many years have passed since I worked at the bank, but to this day, I stand by the belief that was drilled into me – that good customer service is absolutely the most important part of any business.
The particular branch I worked at was one of the most successful in the bank’s portfolio of branches. It’s not hard to understand why. There was a huge poster in the staff room, and although the quote was corny, it summed up the attitude of the branch manager and, thanks to his leadership style, the attitude of the rest of the staff. The quote said:
THE CUSTOMER IS KING
I left the bank in the early 1990s to pursue a career in complementary medicine, but those values of respecting and valuing customers stayed with me and still stay with me today. Those values held me in very good stead when I built up one of the UK’s most successful IBS, digestive health and gut disorder clinics; they were also integral when I launched Just For Tummies two years ago. For me, being customer-focused is crucial. I treat my customers the way I would like to be treated, and my Tummy Team are fully aware of this. When it comes to business, nothing matters if we offer bad customer service and so I try my best to provide the opposite. Having a good product without great customer service won’t bring success, and vice versa.
Of course, it’s not possible to run a perfect business with perfect customers – things do go wrong, but that doesn’t matter, it’s how you handle a situation that’s important. Ensure that the problem doesn’t become a source of friction and resolve it to the satisfaction of everyone involved.
I’ve been thinking for a while about how to show our customers how much we value their loyalty, and decided there’s no better way than to offer a loyalty scheme. Customers can now earn ‘Tummy Tokens’ when they make a purchase; the scheme is live on the Just For Tummies website. You need to have an account with Just For Tummies to accrue Tummy Tokens, and for every £1 you spend, you will accrue one Tummy Token. 100 Tummy Tokens are worth £5, which can then be redeemed on future purchases. You can also earn extra Tokens by leaving product reviews on the site.
For more information about the Tummy Token scheme, visit the Tummy Token page by clicking on the image below.
If there is anything you are not sure about regarding the scheme, please contact one of my Tummy Team at: feelgood@justfortummies.co.uk or call us on 0115 9676699.
Thank you again for your ongoing support and loyalty.
Linda x
