Good customer service deserves a shout out

I often wonder if there's really a particular "price" one pays for service as many have suggested in the past. Sure, only those dishing out half a million for a car should be afforded a maintenance luxury as exemplary as the Rolls Royce anecdote you mentioned above. Yet, what about the local deli in Manhattan with no corporate oversight? What encourages good service in such a small business with low profit margins? In my opinion, service keeps every small business open - only big corporations can get away with such an atrocity as poor customer service. How counterintuitive: the higher the profit, the larger the corporation, the less important the customer becomes. In the new economy, if corporations truly lose power as their predicted to, I hope we'll see a return to customer service across the board. When businesses are small, they remembers who their stakeholders are; and, in an increasingly interconnected world, that's just about everyone. Harrison Bailey Sophomore Design+Management Parsons/New School

It all goes down to retail customs--if you have a pleasant experience with a brand, you'll purchase again. Repeat purchases drive the vast majority of revenue. And I think that it was David Ogilvy who said in one of his books that every point of contact between a customer and your brand is an opportunity which can either be taken advantage of or missed. The receptionist at your switchboard, the customer service representative, the waiter: they are entry points to the brand, and they define the brand. There are some companies that take customer service to an overwhelming level, like Zappos. I can't remember the names of the csr people I spoke to, but the good impression for the brand remains. CVS doesn't have great customer service, but their product and billing design is so smartly designed that it makes it difficult to justify getting my everyday things anywhere else. I agree with several of the commenters here that it's just as important to communicate praise as discontent. Customer service is often a thankless job, and at the end of the day it's just two human beings interacting!

I believe successful service is a mixture of both positive and negative feedback. This is simply because not all people/employees are motivated the same way. Good service is definitely expected but rarely acknowledged. In those instances, its nice to hear praise. Happy employees + happy costumers =working business. Although on the other side of the coin, venting or discussing disappointment within the company is important as well. I believe there is no right or wrong answer, it just depends case by case. Interesting post Bridget Departmental sem.2 tuesdays9am

I often feel guilty when I negatively vent about a company online. I'm sure my experience is often in the minority, but its hard to not to tweet about a problem (or worse, leave a negative review on Yelp when things are really bad). But rarely do I post a positive review, its as if good service is expected, and you don't think to help out a business you like by giving them a good review. Maybe I'll start making it a point to write some positive reviews for some local businesses that are always genuinely nice. They deserve some internet love too.

I agree with you Edward in terms of striking a balance between both good and bad experiences. However I do think for the majority, complaining or venting usually overshadows the praise, or a simple "thank you." As you point out, the various feeds available to us know make it even easier and faster to call someone out, as well as amplifying our displeasure across a broad network. Last spring, I was setting up a large canopy umbrella that I had purchased from Room and Board which had been stored for the winter. I soon realized that a small pin was missing allowing the umbrella to remain open. I contacted the customer service at Room and Board who after sending me a picture to verify the part, needed to then call the vendor to check on the availability. They told me they would call me back in five minutes. Exactly five minutes later I received a call back and they were overnighting me the part. I thanked them, and then I sent the President of Room and Board an email explaining the story and praising the individual who had helped me. He responded with a note of appreciation and that he would pass the praise onto the employee. I look at it this way. We all make mistakes that need to be pointed out as well as corrected. Companies or brands that aren't living up to their promise, most definitely need to be made aware of an issue. I also believe that a simple acknowledgement or thank you can say and inspire so much more.

Two thoughts: 1. While all this good service is commendable, *customer service* is only one way companies can compete. *Product innovation* and *lowest operational cost* are also areas companies can focus on (thanks, Treacy) -- and often focusing on them precludes good customer service. This is counter-intuitive for many marketers, who live near the customer side of the competitive world, but a paper manufacturer might do well to focus on low prices and less on listening to customers. Super service is a feel-good tool not right for all business dynamics. 2. I have to wonder, in particular about Jet Blue, if these firms used a social media monitoring tool to score you, Edward, as an influencer -- and then gave you special service. A guy who works in marketing with nearly 10,000 Twitter followers could easily be tagged as the equivalent of a first-class passenger (even if you flew coach), and thus your tweet requests might go to the top of the queue. Even if this were not the case with your incident, it will happen eventually. Consumers could be scored by both their lifetime value to businesses and their respective influence networks, and those with the most power to drive future revenue will get the best service. The power laws that guide our current CRM programs could be moved into prospecting. Chris Brogan upset? So sorry! Joe Schmoe? No response! It is an interesting concept, isn't it, that the democratizing power of social media could be used to segment and then stratify how consumers are treated. It feels unfair, but businesses may gain a competitive advantage if they learn not all human networks are created equal. .-= Ben Kunz´s last blog ..Beyond sentiment analysis =-.

I had both great and terrible service from Wells Fargo this week. I needed a mortgage interest statement for my taxes. This was a little complicated, we refinanced twice this year following the interest rates down. The old B of A statement came in the mail. There was nothing from Wells.The Wells website wanted me to call an number first and the service rep didn't help AND then hung-up on me! My loan rep (who I didn't want to bother) though was great. He emailed me the forms in 10 minutes. .-= Mark Harmel´s last blog ..something went up today =-.