Good Customer Service = Loyal Customers
There are few things that we as consumers need in order to become loyal customers to a brand. The most important part of any relationship between a company and the consumer is what? You guessed it - GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!A good customer service experience can be the beginning or demise of a potentially lifelong relationship. What's more - if there is inconsistency in the company's overall handling of it's customer service protocol - they could lose the buyer forever.
Here's an example:
Bob buys an iPhone. He was with another cell phone carrier prior to his purchase, but because of his love for the iPhone, he decides to switch to it's sole carrier. The switch happens seemlessly and he feels pretty comfortable about his decision.
Only one month after his first bill arrives, he decides to switch the rest of his family over to the new cell phone carrier - confident that he tried the service out and now knows what to expect from them. At the same time that he's ordering a new phone (and line of service) for his wife, he notices that his online bill is five times higher than expected. He immediately asks to be connected with the customer service department and to his suprise - he has gone over his minutes. Even though he cannot dispute the charges, he's now beginning to have a bad experience with the company he just recently switched to...
Due to Bob's situation and current frustration - there are two paths that the customer service representative can take at this point to salvage the trust and loyalty that Bob has just started to experience with the new cell phone carrier...
- One - the denial of bumping Bob up to the plan that best suites his needs and offsets the overage that he did not account for during the switch - OR
- Two - the acceptance that Bob made a mistake and adjusting the his plan to offset the overage and, in the end, create a positive customer experience for him.
