Clients and colleagues in marketing & branding are tired of hearing me say "in todays social networking Web 2.0 world", customer service is one of the MUST do right differentiating points. It's available to every company but oh so many neglect it. Why wouldn't you focus on that?
Your brand is precious, why wouldn't you protect it in that moment of direct contact with a client?
Well, here's a story of how it pays off and for some reason I just don't see this as a PR ploy. I know that for every negative story that I hear about a company or product, there are usually many satisfied customers who haven't bothered to say a word, it takes something exceptional.
I Heart Zappos is a blogger's post about a most touching experience with Zappos' customer service regarding shoes she'd purchased for her mother. Having bought many pairs with the intention of taking advantage of the company's free return policy, the plan got messed up with the sudden passing of her mother.
As the standard 15 day return period ended Zappos sent an email wondering where the unwanted shoes were. In the midst of mourning she managed to get off an email explaining that given the circumstances she was unable to arrange the required courier pickup. Now comes the unusual part. Zappos went against company policy and arranged for the shoes to be picked up for her. This bit of human caring made a real difference to the customer's life. But the story gets better still.
Shortly thereafter the woman arrives home to find that Zappos had really meant that they were sorry for her family's loss - a messenger was leaving flowers and a basket - the
Far too many companies pay lip service to customer service. Yes, they setup the web links and have some people to answer the phones but they don't buy into doing it right as part of the company's strategy for business growth. It's a necessary evil said one of my former clients.