Small businesses lack customer service

According to a poll by YouGov 20%of small companies admit they have lost customers due to poor service.

On top of that, almost 25% had 'forgotten' or 'missed' important appointments, and 10% admitted avoiding customer calls.

Apparently, paper filing systems and the lack of a customer relationship management (CRM) system are to blame.

This conclusion was based on the finding that 39 per cent of firms are at least partly reliant on paper-based filing systems, while 24 per cent are filing data in private diaries or notebooks.

Call me cynical and call me old fashioned - but when I started work in offices, there were no computers or electronic diaries - and I didn't forget or miss appointments.

Could the reasons given have anything to do with the fact that the survey was commissioned by Microsoft?

I am a great believer in office systemisation - but I am also a great believer in common sense and good business manners.