Customers
There are a number of laws the protect consumers in the event that they receive a poor product or service, prime among which is the Sales of Goods act. The sales of good act says that: products must be:
- ‘Of merchantable quality’ – ie free of significant faults
- ‘Fit for the purpose’ – including any particular purpose mentioned by you to the seller.
- ‘As described’
Customers are also protected when buying a service. A service should be carried out:
- ‘With reasonable care and skill’.
- ‘Within a reasonable time’.
- ‘At a reasonable charge, if no price has been fixed in advance’.
There are simple steps that a business can take to help ensure that the Sales of Goods act and other laws and regulations are adhered to:
- Continual professional development: Make sure that your staff are offered continual training in their area of work. Not only will this encourage staff to work to the highest standards, but will also make sure that they are aware of changing rules and regulations.
- Membership of relevant professional bodies.
- Employ industry experts who can point you in the right direction
- Use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that will help to ensure that all of your customers are happy with your products and services. Ensure that this CRM is properly backed up, so that you can always restore your data if a problem occurs.
Also, remember that if you handle customers’ personal information, you have an obligation under the data protection act to protect it and manage it properly.