Customer service is key to a brand having loyalty by a consumer — at least for me, that’s the case. For example, recently an item I purchased via Amazon was not delivered. My online status said “delivered” but said package was not on my doorstep. I immediately thought “crap! Someone took it!” — “now what?” Well I phoned Amazon and asked if they knew what happened, and they realized it was accidentally delivered to the wrong address. I was dismayed because I was really hoping to have the item that day. What did Amazon do? They promised to have the item delivered by end of business the next day. I was relieved and the matter was squared away within less than 5 minutes. Unbelievable — I got a person on the phone, she was polite, she answered my questions, and fixed the problem! Is it sad, that I was surprised this actually happened? Sad, indeed. An even bigger surprise was that my package came within 12 hours – I had it the next morning! All I can say is, Amazon – you rock! I am a loyal consumer, and will not falter (unless you fail me – but please don’t!)
Customer Service – the bedrock of customer brand loyalty.
Who are your favorite examples of small and mid sized businesses who have great examples of customer service?
Well I just went into Vinodivino the other day and had some great in-person customer service. Maybe it’s because they just opened and are trying to bolster the customers who enter the shop — but I was highly impressed with how genuine and knowledgeable the staff was. Also, they really tried to initiate true conversation about the wine you may want to purchase rather than just “sucking up” persay. I left their excited to go back. That’s key. You?
From a business standpoint I think (good) customer service is only a point of differentiation when you sell other companies’ products or there is a lot of competition for the products you sell.
In my opinion it makes more business sense to find a strong need within a niche audience and fulfill that need. Simply doing that makes you the big fish in the small pond and (good) customer service doesn’t need to be as much of a differentiator. That’s just my opinion from an entrepreneurial standpoint.
Nice post, Pam
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