Service culture: an unfinished task. A reflection on the challenges of building new ways of relating to customers in Cuban entrepreneurship.

M.Sc. Yunet Arteaga

Opening a private business changes many things. But building a service culture requires more than just selling a product or providing a service: it involves transforming how we understand our relationship with those who choose us.

In Cuba, this is a process that is still under construction.

A legacy we also have to transform.
For decades, much of the commercial and service activity in Cuba was developed under a state model. In that context, the relationship between those who offered a product or service and those who received it was very different from what we find today in a market with a greater presence of private businesses.

The customer had few alternatives.

Changing establishments wasn’t always an option. Competition was limited, and in many cases, the quality of service didn’t directly determine the survival of the business.

This isn’t about judging those who worked for decades in that context. Ways of working are also conditioned by the system in which they develop.

But some practices and ways of relating to customers remain.

And today, as Cuban private entrepreneurship continues to grow and transform, we also have the opportunity to transform those practices.

When Buying Feels Like a Favor
There’s a scene many people can recognize.

You enter a store. You ask about a product. The answer comes reluctantly. You ask another question and it seems like you’re bothering them. You request information about a service and receive a vague explanation.

Or you have a problem with a purchase and the response seems to be:

“That’s your problem.”

In those moments, there’s something worth asking ourselves:

What kind of experience are we offering?

Because a business doesn’t connect with its customers solely through what it sells.

It also does so through every interaction.

The way you greet someone.

The way you answer a question.

The willingness to explain.

The punctuality.

The ability to admit a mistake.

The way you handle a complaint.

All of that also communicates who we are as a business.

The Customer Isn’t Always Right
For years we’ve heard the phrase:

“The customer is always right.”

But taken to the extreme, that’s not a good service philosophy either. The customer can be wrong. They can have expectations that don’t match what we offer. They can ask for something we can’t provide. They can even behave disrespectfully.

Being professional doesn’t mean accepting any behavior.

A true service culture isn’t about saying yes to everyone. It’s about being able to say “no” when necessary, setting boundaries, and standing up for our terms, but doing so with respect, clarity, and professionalism.

Because there’s a huge difference between:

“I can’t offer you that.”

and

“That’s not my problem.”

The first is a professional response.

The second breaks the relationship.

Service is also part of the product.
Imagine two businesses offering similar products, with comparable prices and quality.

In one:

They explain what you need;
They answer your questions;
They meet agreed-upon deadlines;
They inform you when a problem arises;
They find a solution;

And they make you feel that your purchase matters.

In the other:

You have to insist to get information;
The answers are unclear;
Deadlines are never met;
No one seems to take responsibility;

And every interaction feels like a hassle.

Which one would you return to?

The answer seems obvious.

That’s why customer experience isn’t an added element of the business: it’s part of what the business offers.

Good service is also a strategy.
In markets where many businesses offer similar products or services, the experience can become a way to differentiate yourself.

Maybe you can’t have the lowest price.

Maybe you don’t have the biggest location.

Perhaps your competition has more followers.

But you can ask yourself:

What kind of experience do I want someone to have when interacting with my business?

You can differentiate yourself through things that seem small:

Answering clearly.
Keeping your promises.
Making the buying process easy.
Listening before responding.
Explaining when something isn’t possible.
Resolving problems after the sale.
Treating people with respect, even when the conversation is difficult.

None of these actions necessarily require a large investment.

They require something different: a conscious decision to do things differently.

A vocation for service or learned service?
Sometimes we think that to provide good service, you need a kind of “natural vocation.”

But not everyone is born knowing how to serve customers.

Service is also learned, practiced, and managed.

A person can be excellent in their profession and still need to develop skills to connect with their customers.

Communication.

Listening.

Empathy.

Conflict management.

Product knowledge.

Responsiveness.

Expectation management.

And when there’s a team, this becomes even more important.

It’s not enough to say:

“We treat customers well here.”

We have to define what that means in practice.

How do we respond to a complaint?

How do we inform customers of a delay?

What do we do when we don’t have what the customer is looking for?

How do we deliver bad news?

What information should the person serving the customer know?
A service culture isn’t built solely on good intentions.

It also needs criteria, processes, and training.

An opportunity for Cuban businesses
Here, a particularly important idea emerges. When we talk about business opportunities, we usually think of new products, unexplored markets, or innovative technologies. But there’s another, much closer opportunity:

Doing better what others are still doing poorly.

If customers in a certain sector are used to long waits, meeting deadlines can be an advantage.

If no one clearly explains their products, better communication can set you apart.

If complaints are often ignored, resolving them can become part of your value proposition.

If buying is complicated, making it simple is already an innovation.

We don’t always need to invent something that has never existed before.

Sometimes we need to observe what already exists and ask ourselves:

How could I do it better?

A Service Culture Is Also an Entrepreneurial Venture

Building a business isn’t just about figuring out what to sell.

It also involves deciding how we want to connect with the people who trust us.

And this is especially important in an entrepreneurial ecosystem that’s still developing its own ways of doing business.

Every interaction counts.

Every customer who feels heard.

Every problem solved correctly.

Every promise kept.

Every person who decides to return.

All of this contributes to building a different kind of business culture.

That’s why perhaps the question isn’t:

“How do I get more customers?”

but also:

“What can I do to make those who have already chosen me want to come back?”

Because making a sale can be the result of a good strategy. But getting someone to return, recommend your business, and trust you again requires something more: a positive experience. And building that experience is a task we still have ahead of us. An ongoing task, but also a huge opportunity to differentiate ourselves.