SURIVING A BAD ECONOMY
Posted by admin - 18/12/09 at 02:12 pmMake the World Your Marketplace
By John Tschohl
John Tschohl, founder and president of the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, considers himself very fortunate. During the past year, as thousands of businesses either closed their doors or downsized significantly, his business has seen unprecedented growth. He attributes that growth to several factors, not the least of which is a diversification of his client base.
“Just as smart investors diversify their investments, I made a conscious effort many years ago to seek out clients throughout the world,” says Tschohl, who also is the author of several books on customer service. “Approximately 95 percent of the Service Quality Institute’s business is international.”
The company has developed more than 26 customer-service training programs that have been presented to business clients throughout the world. “We take great care to tailor those programs to meet the specific needs of our clients and have translated our books into many languages, including Spanish, Russian, Chinese, French, Arabic, Indonesian, and Romanian,” Tschohl says. “My first book, Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service, is the top-selling business book in Russia.”
The Service Quality Institute also has forged partnerships with licensees in several countries. “We’re very aggressive internationally,” Tschohl says. “I operate with channel partners all over the world who represent the Service Quality Institute and its products.”
Tschohl spends approximately six months each year traveling to other countries and speaking about customer service to corporate and government leaders. During 2009, for example, he made presentations in Botswana, Nigeria, Turkey, El Salvador, Mexico, Romania, and Aruba. Late last fall, Tschohl was the guest speaker at Rwanda President Paul Kagame’s third Annual Business Roundtable, which was attended by some 220 private business leaders from throughout that country. Kagame is determined to improve customer service in Rwanda in order to improve that country’s economic development.
Tschohl and his staff also brought clients and partners from throughout the world to Minneapolis for the Service Quality Institute’s Worldwide Conference. Those people traveled from 23 countries, including China, Indonesia, the Bahamas, Colombia, Jamaica, Peru, Trinidad, Botswana, Cameroon, Nigeria, El Salvador, Tanzania, Guatemala, and the United States.
In order to compete and survive, particularly in a dismal economy, Tschohl says businesses must make the world their marketplace. “Think globally,” he says. “Use the Internet to market your business. It’s inexpensive and, regardless of the size of your company, you will be able to compete with the giants. Also create a web site and update it daily or weekly to keep it current. Make it a living brochure for your business.”
Tschohl’s targets, he says, are potential clients around the globe. “Too many firms focus on the market in their own communities or countries,” he says. “They don’t realize that there are 1.6 billion people using the Internet to search for products and services. The Service Quality Institute has done well because we court customers from every corner of the world, and we provide them with the type of service we train them to provide to their own customers.”
John Tschohl is an international service strategist and speaker. Described by Time and Entrepreneur magazines as a customer service guru, he has written several books on customer service, including Ca$hing In: Make More Money, Get a Promotion, Love Your Job; Loyal For Life; Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service; e-Service; and the Customer is Boss.
You can contact John at 952-884-3311 or e-mail him at quality@servicequality.com
