The importance of customer service was the focus for a seminar by the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation (BSBDC) held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

The second quarterly BSBDC Breakfast seminar saw the first 50 of almost 70 business people who registered and attended the event receive free professional and practical advice on how to improve customer service and loyalty for their businesses.

The event tackled a number of key and topical issues, such as 'Understanding the value of Customer Service', 'Handling Customer Complaints' and 'Creating and Maintaining a Loyal Customer Base'.

BSBDC deputy chairman and entrepreneur Anthony Foster gave an insight into how personalised quality customer service increases sales for businesses.

Taiwo (Tee) Ogunyemi, vice-president of Butterfield Bank, who is responsibility for business banking at the bank, then spoke about the importance of coming up with relevant and meaningful ways to communicate with each customer to produce a value-added experience.

He stressed that employers need to make sure that all employees understand the customer is No. 1 and that without the customer there is no business, as well as providing tips, from never arguing with the customer and treating a complaint as a gift to knowing your customer.

One attendee remarked that as a result of this presentation they were going to tell their colleagues that it is "not all about the product you sell, it is about meeting the customer needs".

The second presenter, Angela Brangman, Capital G's vice-president for branch banking told delegates how to manage and respond to customer complaints. Mrs. Brangman explained the cost to businesses if the inevitable customer complaint was not handled effectively.

Participant evaluations indicated that many would use the easy to remember effective way to respond: listen, empathise and resolve the issue and repair the relationship.

The final presenter, Gita Blakeney-Saltus, executive director of Caron Bermuda and co-owner of Flowers by GIMI, wrapped up proceedings by sharing with the audience the importance of treating the customer how you wish to be treated, by personally acknowledging them and creating unique ways to give back in order to maintain their loyalty.

This presentation sealed the collective message from all presenters for the morning, which was found in a Ghandi quote: "Customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption on our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider on our business. He is a part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so."

Attendees also participated in an interactive networking session which allowed them to apply the information they had learnt. They also took part in a raffle to win gifts donated by Thermax Bermuda.

For more information on this seminar and our upcoming seminars, please contact the BSBDC at Bdasmallbusiness@gov.bm or visit the website at www.bsbdc.bm