Effective Customer Service: A Tool for Growth and Sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria

Abstract

Compounding the fake and substandard products offerings in the Nigeria economy is the issue of effective customer service, particularly by small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) owners who appear ignorant of the roles ideal customer service plays in sustaining the growth and sustainability of businesses. It can be observed that most SMEs in Nigeria go into business venture without the knowledge and skills of how to satisfy customers/clients/patients which is the backbone of the success of any business venture that is out to provide goods or services to people effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, many SMEs failures could be attributed to poor customer services. This paper therefore did an academic literature review on the subject matter of customer service. It started with the conceptual clarification of who is a customer and what customer service is. Thereafter, the roles effective customer service play in driving growth and sustainability of businesses were discussed. Next, the impediments to delivering quality customer service and how they could be overcome concluded the paper. Based on the discussion, the paper suggested that every SME owner, and the would be entrepreneur, should have the knowledge and skills of delivering quality customer service.