I had a conversation today with a company that we are pitching for marketing and design of their services. We were talking about leading a marketing strategy with the concept of great customer service.
Needless to say. I had a conflict.
Everyone expects great customer service. Customer service is a given in an economy where the Internet has revolutionized the communication model. We KNOW when someone has terrible customer service. You cannot afford to have bad customer service. Period. The concept of running a marketing campaign with WE HAVE GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE… is a mistake and it is boring.
People want to know how you are initially alleviating their pain. The simple fact that you “hire great customer service reps” or are “number one in customer service” does not sell someone on using your service.
We EXPECT great customer service.
My opinion? Great customer service is a secondary experience. It is a secondary buying factor (maybe even a third). It should be more of a business process… ingrained into your company.
Always remember..
When selling your service think about what pain you are alleviating… what pain are you solving? Not.. what does the customer want to know about ME.
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Erin
What if the pain you are solving is the rampant bad customer-service that exists in the category, THEN you could lead with good customer-service (right?). I understand the topic and yes, your “selling points” for customer-service are borrrrring, but I don’t think we should ever underestimate what Starbucks or JetBlue did for their industries purely based on the fact that their customer-services weren’t like everybody elses.
Also, think about what a customer-service campaign would do for employee morale. Employees want to feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves; that they’re not just coming to “work” but clocking in to make something work and that without them, it wouldn’t. So while you might not necessarily want to lead with a CS campaign, think about running one alongside your brand work. Because a brand that recognizes its people is a brand that works. 🙂
Kyle Lacy
@Erin I will concede if the market you are targeting has terrible customer service among competitors. You are right on that point.
In regards to employee morale, that is a secondary aspect of marketing. You would not lead a marketing campaign saying, “Our employees are so happy. You will be too.” In my humble opinion. 🙂
Chad Gardner
Great point, Kyle.
Customer service is can be a challenging experience regardless of your industry, so why market with such a broad concept? There has to be something in their niche that makes them stand out related to product/services, with the addition of great customer service accompanying it.
Slightly off topic, but something I have noticed about customer service (at least in our industry): with the internet giving companies more opportunity to connect with consumers, I have seen the focus of quality customer service given way to quantity. It is just plain silly to devalue the concept of customer service, shifting the emphasis of a quality “secondary experience” to a self-serving business pursuit.
Erin
I was not saying a campaign (to consumers) would lead with the employee factor, but that a brand that prides itself on customer service (therein, priding itself on its employees) enhances its brand full circle if they show they care about people, ALL people, not simply those that consume it. But what I’m talking about is probably “internal communications” and not advertising per se. There probably aren’t a lot of brands that could finesse this kind of people approach…hmmm, or could they? 🙂
Mark Juleen
If you have a business, service and quality should be a given. Everybody touts these things. Service is a culture and if it’s good enough then word of mouth turns it into marketing.
Businesses are started everyday because someone thinks they can offer “better service” or “better quality”. So, deliver the same stuff, but better. Hmm, that’s novel.
It’s all design! What’s unique about the design!? Every company I can think of known for customer service doesn’t market it, and it’s just part of the culture they are known for. Nordstrom, Lexus, Disney, they market the total experience, not service. The experience is designed and it is the culture. It’s not just a statement about “Great Customer Service.”
When I think “Customer Service” it makes me think: “People I call when I have a problem.” That’s not the brand I’d want to market anyway. Define what makes your company unique (not service or quality) and market that. If you can’t think of anything good it might be time for a redesign.
Nick Leung
Great post!
I do agree that companies need to focus on the solution first, but with small businesses, they only have word of month to market their company. Hence, providing great customer service will certainly promote their business.
With that being said, we’re developing a crowdsource customer service site. Think of us as getsatisfaction.com but for small business.
http://www.FeedbackJar.com