New book on marketing launched

BUSINESS owners have been urged to place a priority on their customers at all times to ensure the growth of their ventures.

The Marketing Director of Airtel Ghana, Mr Oare Ojeikere, who made the call in Accra said offering customers the best service would  sustain the business.

Mr Ojeikere made these remarks at the launch of a book entitled “SERVICE MARKETING EXCELLENCE with a Twist of Corporate Social Responsibility” written by Professor Robert Ebo Hinson in Accra.

Service marketing with focus on the customer, he said was critically important because there would be no business without a customer to serve.

Mr Ojeikere said many business owners only had the aim of making it but ignored the value of the customers and noted that  “the purpose of business is to create value and keep a customer.”

Profit he explained was just a reward for treating customers well hence, the need for a paradigm shift from being profit oriented and placing priority on customers.

He enumerated five principles of distinctive service that customers could use to evaluate service providers and telecom brands in the country.

According to him, service providers must listen, understand and respond to theneeds of the customer, define superior service and establish a service strategy which must include a service recovery plan to make amends for disruptions in services.

The service providers must also set standards projecting how they intend to deliver their services and promises and measure performance afterwards.

Service providers must also select, train and empower employees to work for the customers and finally recognise and reward accomplishment in the provision of their services.

Mr Ojeikere also advised businesses saying “service is a choice and no one can make you serve the customer better.”

The Author of the book, Professor Hinson explaining the idea behind the title of the book said there was the need to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in strategies when providing services to customers.

He said many a time; there was no distinction between the primary customers of the service providers and those they spend their resource on which is wrong.

He said there was the need to clearly define audiences who benefitted from CSR in the provision of services.

The book he explained shed more light on approaches that could be used to provide quality services while focusing on CSR and how employees could benefit from CSR to empower them to provide service to their customers.

Professor Hinson added the book would give service providers tools to better endear them to customers adding that “The book talks about service responsibility by excellence, business oriented, market oriented and service oriented Corporate Social Responsibility,” he said.

The Managing Director of Bank of Africa, Ghana, Mr Koby Andah who was also the Chairman of the occasion said giving a twist of CSR in the delivery service was a step in the right direction as customers can no longer be deceived with CSR when provision of service is bad.

He said in the delivery of service, the service provider must consider convenience, develop the right attitude and right price for its customers and give back to society in the form of CSR to send a signal to society that it was a responsible organisation.