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I had a poor experience with a printing service recently. After speaking to their customer service, I was still very unhappy.
Nutshell: They said there was nothing that they could do, and if I wanted to cancel my order, I’d have to pay a cancellation fee.
Being very frustrated, I tweeted a complaint about my poor experience with the company (not something I’m necessarily proud of, but that’s for another post).
After doing so, I was contacted on twitter by someone who asked me to email them.
So I did… and they went above and beyond to provide the best possible customer service they realistically could. They were very respectful, explained the situation, and offered to waive the cancellation fee. They even offered a discount on my next order.
Now how could you go from not being able to do anything, and even punishing me with a fee, to giving me everything I asked for and more?!
Many “experts” advise companies to approach every community differently based on their needs. I’m going to go ahead and say that when it comes to customer service, treat every community and customer equally, regardless of their influence.
What do you make of this? Should companies provide better service for some communities over others?
Take it further…if a customer is a brand evangelist of yours, should you provide them with more benefits? I’ve always thought it a good idea to take care of your most loyal customers, but is it worth the risk of alienating your average customer?
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Comments
10.30.09
People have a innate sense of social justice and take unfair treatment to heart. When they see some customers 'earn' rewards in a loyalty program, that seems fair, but if only a squeaky wheel gets oiled...? I'm not sure about other cultures, but complaining has never seemed to justify rewards among Americans. Now if you reframe the behavior as 'standing up for oneself'... I don't think I have an answer for your question, but I think you've identified an important issue!
10.30.09
Most companies will not survive if they do not value high-level customer service and satisfaction. If a company has defined, trained it's employees on, and lives it's brand consistently, they will not have to determine how to treat which customers as they will all receive the same level of service, as a matter of course. If, however, a customer is more difficult to deal with than they are worth, depending on the potential negative exposure due the slight, they should be "fired" as the energy it would take to make them happy will not provide a positive ROI and will adversely impact the morale of the staff. That's my two cents! Great topic!
10.30.09
That seems unfair because there are many people who aren't on Twitter and may not have a 'public voice' (so to speak). I probably would have done the same thing as you but it shows that although they went above and beyond (after the fact) it is still overall, poor customer service. It seems like it's selective customer service and the situation seems a bit faulty on their end.
I think your average customer is the lifeblood of companies. They're like the foundation. You need the foundation to the mansion and even though the fancy additional rooms, decorations, etc. make it look nice, it would be nothing without a mansion. Ha, good analogy, right?
10.30.09
I agree that every community should be treated equally, but I wonder about how realistic it is that the local guy could really do anything? We all know that the brands with Twitter accounts are corporate people who realize the importance of brand image and perception, that's why they'll go to great lengths to make things better. It seems at the local level not all are as savvy. Everyone should be equal. And, sometimes at the local level, they just don't have the freedom/flexibility to make situations right. That's a sticky one. But, the best companies will always treat all customers fairly and it's remembered. Need an example...look at Nordstrom.
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