Your company’s customer service can be ruined (or saved) by just one person. Because it’s so easy for customers to communicate their experiences with other customers (and potential customers), any bad experience can be multiplied a hundredfold. Here’s an example:
I’m a huge fan of J.Jill clothes, mostly because they actually offer pants for us Amazons (tall), but also because I like their styles and service. I’ve been a loyal customer for many years (when will everyone offer tall pants?) and have had exceptional customer service both online and in their retail locations. Until Tuesday.
On Tuesday, I went to a local retail store to try to return two pairs of jeans that had both failed due to material defects. And I was denied, not just by one employee, but three, including the store manager. I was told that the flaws were due to normal wear and tear and they wouldn’t accept returns for items I had worn. Huh. Really? I’ve never had a problem in the past. Maybe I should buy my clothes from a place that has a satisfaction guarantee – like L.L. Bean or Lands End.
Annoying a loyal customer doesn’t seem to be a good idea, especially during the current economic conditions. And this store is in Michigan, which has been taking a lot of hurt. I’ve never had a problem returning items that have failed before, and J. Jill has an awesome return policy:
There is no time restriction on your return. Your satisfaction is our top priority. If for any reason you are not thoroughly satisfied with your purchase, please return it promptly and we’ll exchange or refund your purchase price.
If I hadn’t had such great customer service in the past, I probably would no longer be a customer. Luckily I happened to know about their return policy and so I contact their live concierge from their website where Melissa handled everything for me. But, what if I hadn’t had so much great past experience? Or what if I wasn’t so forgiving (they really do have nice tall pants)? They would have been out a customer. But not just that, I could have told everyone about my experience (like I’m doing now). So, now how many potential customers has this one experience affected?
The point of this story wasn’t to rant (well not really), but to point out how much any person in a company can affect the overall customer service reputation. Because it is so easy for customers to communicate to each other and to potential customers, a good or bad experience can affect more than just one person. You could be losing thousands of dollars in sales from one point of failure in your company. On the plus side, good past experience will help any bad experience, especially if you’re quick to make things right. Unfortunately, bad experiences sit in people’s memory more than good ones, so it takes many more good experiences to make up for just one bad experience.
How does your company align all employees for exceptional customer service?
(photo by Suresh BJ @ Flickr CC)
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Technorati tags: customer service, reputation, business, marketing, brand