Let your customers drive your marketing efforts. In turn, make your marketing reinforce all the good and valuable stuff people say about your company. My concept for this is “Marketing from the inside out.” I coined the phrase back in nineties to address the importance of making performance match promises. That performance applies to customer […]
Once again, here we are talking about Costco. No, I don’t have their stock (although I should). And, no, I don’t get compensated for endorsing them. It’s simply that Costco does it right. And by “it” I mean their entire approach to customer service, employee treatment and overall empowerment within the organization.
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle stated, “All things in moderation.” Believe it or not, this applies to customer service. Given my ongoing advocacy for good customer service, I find it difficult—but necessary—to also advocate for all things in moderation when it comes to delivering top-notch customer care. Increasingly, in an apparent effort to provide superior service, […]
Talk about weak links! How many times recently have you emailed a series of questions to a customer support address, and received incomplete answers? Even worse, it’s now commonplace for one or more of the questions not to be addressed at all. I’ve had it take three tries before getting simple feedback that should have […]
Of the many weak links in customer service policies, deliberate disservice to make a buck is one of the weakest. A recent Harvard Business Review article asks, “Why Is Customer Service So Bad? Because It’s Profitable.” The article notes, “It’s a familiar scenario: A service provider fails to live up to your expectations and you […]
Given my TV viewing habits, I get bombarded daily with appeals for contributions to everything from sick seniors to abused animals. Some time ago, with the exception of St. Jude’s Hospital to whom I donate without question, I started checking out these organizations before sending money. What I’ve found, by and large, is that organizations […]
Customer service weak links can doom otherwise exceptional efforts to serve customers and other stakeholders. Identifying and remediating the weakest customer service links in your company can pay substantial dividends now and down the road. Companies unwilling or unable to examine potential weak links likely will discover the hard way that competitors have identified them—and […]
Lack of clarity, confidence and catalyst seem to be the primary reasons people don’t go the extra mile to seek out satisfying customer service solutions. Lack of clarity can be remedied with a clear-cut plan to go beyond the normal customer service loop. Confidence can be achieved by seeing the positive results of others and […]
When going beyond the normal customer service loop to executive-level help, the outcomes generally will be satisfying. However, there are companies that just don’t seem to care no matter what you do. That’s when it’s time to ratchet up both the rhetoric and leverage. Instead of just asking for help, demand it. Here are some […]
There are surprisingly easy ways for you to get the customer service you want and deserve. Most consumers give up right away after trying and failing to get customer service resolution in the normal customer support department. When one call, email, text or online chat session fails to produce a satisfactory outcome, they stop trying. […]
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