American philosopher and political theorist James Burnham once posed this still relevant question: what if the answer to society’s ills is not capitalism vs socialism, but an entrepreneurial vs a managerial class?
Entrepreneurs lead by innovating and serving; managers lead via rules, regulations and believing in the public’s service to themselves.
Time and again, customer service proves to be the secret to a start-up’s success.
Nearly two thirds of customers surveyed by Zendesk indicated that they will defect from a business after a single bad experience.
As a scaling business, you need to balance the hiring of managers with prioritising customer service.

*The co-founder of Dermastore is an advocate for putting customer service at the heart of any business – a winning strategy by all measures. Learn from Greg’s recipe for serving your customers* *here*.

Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and customer service.

One of the most profound books I’ve ever read was James Burnham’s The Managerial Revolution. I’m in good company: George Orwell himself described it as “intellectually courageous”.

Published in 1941, this prophetic book has a very simple premise. It argues that the battle for the soul of a nation – or even global order – is not capitalism vs socialism or rich vs poor. Rather it is the entrepreneurial class vs the managerial class. Burnham deems the latter (which he terms “The Rule Of Administrators”) to be an existential risk to democracy itself.

The reasons are pretty straightforward. The entrepreneurial class leads by means of innovation. The managerial class leads by means of rules and regulations. Their motivation is not to be in service to others but rather that others should remain in service to the status quo.

Despite being more than 80 years old, the book’s premise is at the centre of the bullseye of many of today’s burning issues.

Politics, big business, parastatals, public institutions – almost all of them are overwhelmingly run by administrators with a frighteningly large absence of entrepreneurial leaders.

To share a single data point, the ratio of administrators to students at some of the world’s top universities currently sits at an unsustainable 1:1.

If you’ve ever dealt with national leaders, political parties or government institutions, you’ve probably been struck by how much emphasis is put on protocols of address like “Your Excellency”, “The Honourable so-and-so” and “Your Worship”. (In fact, South Africa has a 56-page etiquette book to help you out if you’re interested.)

The message is clear. To this particular managerial class, “public service” is not about serving the public; it’s about the public being in service to them.

In stark comparison, entrepreneurial leaders are obsessed with serving others, in particular their customers.

Why obsessed? Simple. The penalties for a lack of service are quick and severe, whereas the rewards are overwhelmingly positive.

Let’s look at five research studies including our own that highlight the return on service for entrepreneurs.

Insight #1

The 4th Edition Heavy Chef Entrepreneur Education Report highlighted the importance of partnerships for entrepreneurs. A finding from the report’s thematic analysis showed that entrepreneurs evaluate and pick potential partnerships based on how it helps them serve their customers better.

Insight #2

An in-depth analysis of the language app Duolingo revealed that of all the tactics used to grow the app, a focus on current customers saw a 350% increase in user activity.

Insight #3

The 2022 Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report revealed that 64% of business leaders said a focus on customer service had a positive impact on their business. Meanwhile, 60% of customers indicated that they will defect from a business after a single bad experience.

Insight #4

The 2022 South Africa Township CX Report showed that customers trust local brands who are most responsive to serve their needs, and that 90% would welcome a Spaza Loyalty Programme if it were to be introduced.

Insight #5

The 2020 African Youth Survey showed youth’s readiness to serve with 77% of South African youth believing they can effect positive change if they lead from the front. This stat inspired a radical idea to solve South Africa’s poverty threat.

I feel I need to make a quick nuanced point re entrepreneurs vs managers.

The Managerial Revolution specifically cautions against the rule of a majority managerial class in the face of an absence of entrepreneurial leaders.

But entrepreneurs need managers, obviously.

Finding and employing the right one(s) is invaluable to scale the business beyond yourself. The challenge is to hire those people while keeping the organisation focused on being of service to others.

Learn. Do. Share.

So, what actions can we take from these insights?

For entrepreneurs: Take a good look at the way you’re operating. What could you do in the next two weeks to move customer service closer to the heart of your business?

For educators: How can you demonstrate the importance of customer service to tomorrow’s entrepreneurs?

For brands: What tools can you make available to help entrepreneurs better look after their existing customers?

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Research: Why Should Entrepreneurs Focus On Serving Their Customers?

American philosopher and political theorist James Burnham once posed this still relevant question: what if the answer to society’s ills is not capitalism vs socialism, but an entrepreneurial vs a managerial class?

Entrepreneurs lead by innovating and serving; managers lead via rules, regulations and believing in the public’s service to themselves.

Time and again, customer service proves to be the secret to a start-up’s success.

Nearly two thirds of customers surveyed by Zendesk indicated that they will defect from a business after a single bad experience.

As a scaling business, you need to balance the hiring of managers with prioritising customer service.