Good customer service has always been the sure fire way to land the best publicity on earth. When economic times were good, many companies bypassed emphasis on this principle and strictly built value based on which publications featured their products. Certainly if they had a showcase of magazine hits here and broadcast hits there, that certainly was enough to make people buy (and repeat buy), enough to make people trust and enough to get people talking about their brand...right?
Maybe this was the way before, but in a want-it-now generation coupled with a troubled economy, there is a shift back to the "old school" principles of listening to what your customers want, then delivering. Or in other words, putting the customer first again. And honestly, I for one, love retro business standards. We could argue that the fervor around social media + business along with the demise of our economic stability created the perfect storm.
Business after business we've witnessed many improve their customer service, whether by making themselves available 24/7 on Twitter, opening up their Facebook fan page to fans and disgruntled customers alike and by launching blogs to invite in conversation and increase the level of intimacy between brand and customer. Once the shift started to happen, the stories of success began to emerge. The key was companies removed the distance between brand and customer by extinguishing the middle man thus allowing the consumer to come directly to them...therefore making the consumer feel they mattered; their purchases mattered, and that they were a valued patron of the brand.
2010 has shown a return to the customer as #1. And when your customers are happy it lends to a better retainment of loyalists who repeat purchase from you and recommend you to others. The best investment you will ever make will be in your customer service. And that is the best publicity that money can buy.
What are you doing to improve your customer service in this economy?
Posted by Shannon Nelson on July 5, 2010 2:15 PM
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