Allen Bostrom – Universal Accounting

Which stores and restaurants and stores do you patronize most often?  Are you treated poorly there?  I would guess you are not!  Not long ago, my oldest son managed a store for an AT&T cell phone dealer.  His customers often came to his store straight from another dealer’s store a mile up the street, where they had been ignored or treated disrespectfully.  While the location of his store was poor and his prices were often higher, my son won many customers for his employer because he provided the world class customer service that his competitor did not.  Kudos to my son’s employer for building and sustaining a culture with such emphasis on customer service.

Statistics show that it is much less costly to keep the customers you already have than it is to find new customers. Once you have customers, you want to develop a loyalty in them so that they will never want to go elsewhere for the products and services they are buying from you right now.

A two-pronged plan is essential for dealing with existing customers. You must keep them happy with what they are buying from you already. Also, you want them to spend more money with you and more often. These are two critical objectives of a successful marketing plan for your business. Customer service is imperative in keeping customers satisfied and loyal. It is a true differentiator in the market place.

I found the article 7 Steps to Remarkable Customer Service linked to from Seth Godin’s excellent marketing blog, to be interesting.  While the author Joel Spolsky’s examples are computer-related, the principles can be applied in any business.

Please share any good or bad customer service experiences with me in the comment box below!