9. Assessing Customer Service for Sustainable Micro, Small, and Medium Entrepreneurial Firms: Lessons from Ghana

This chapter examines customer service as a strategic growth tool for micro, small, and medium entrepreneurial firms (MSMEs). Customer service is crucial to any business, particularly for MSMEs trying to establish themselves in a competitive market. However, these firms often need to pay more attention to customer service due to resource constraints, lack of skills and knowledge, and other factors. The extant literature examines customer service within the context of large organizations, with little attention paid to businesses within the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector. This chapter argues that customer service is more crucial for MSMEs than large corporations. The chapter is conceptual and relies heavily on literature and industry experiences. The main finding from this study is that only a few MSMEs in Ghana consider customer service to be what transpires between the business and the customer during the product or service exchange period. The chapter contributes to the literature by exploring the importance of customer service for sustainable MSMEs in Ghana. It reinforces that customer service since the turn of the millennium transcends the business encounter stage through customer relationship management to winning the customer's lifetime loyalty. The chapter contributes to the customer service literature, especially on MSMEs. This chapter also calls for implementing appropriate customer service practices that enhance the core product or services rendered, which could eventually yield desired benefits to consumers.