There has been so much talk about the importance of customer service. Phrases like “the customer is always right” and “the customer comes first” are ideas that many marketers swear by. But why is that the case? Is it because as shoppers we are arrogant beings who think we deserve special treatment?
Absolutely not! That is not the case at all.
Look at it this way: when you walk into a shop to buy something, are u paying only for the product you pick up or are you paying for the whole shopping experience? Many shoppers might not have thought about it that way, but actually you are paying for the whole shopping experience. There is a reason you pick one retailer over the other. So what is this reason that you prefer one to the other?
The bottom line is that shoppers believe that they are spending their hard earned money on something and it is only fair that they get the best experience possible. And eager marketers have always nurtured this belief. And why not? After all, the customer should come first.
Any retailer who puts other things before the customer is definitely missing the point. After all, what could be more important than the your source of revenue. Never forget that the minute you fall behind in service, there are plenty of other retailers who would be more than happy to take care of your dissatisfied customers.
Competitors! That is the word to never lose target of. Competition runs at such high levels these days that every retailer is forced to do all that it takes to retain customers. It is the supply and demand equation all over again and here the supply is much higher than the demand. There is nothing that is available only at one place, no matter how exclusive it might be.
Customers have become so used to being treated right that they are well in tuned with how they should be taken care of. The retailer might not see it but customers are aware of the service they are getting and usually react to it in positive or negative ways. Customers are sensitive to the time retailers take to answer a question or reply to an email. It should go without saying that the customer’s time is precious and you need to communicate to them that you value their presence. Most customers who email a retailer with queries expect to get an email within the end of the next working day.
Something as seemingly simple as answering a query that a customer poses in a quick, efficient and positive manner can be the first step to building a long lasting relationship with that person. As a retailer you want to acquire customers’ trust so that they keep coming back to you in the future.
And that is what is all comes down to: customer service is important because you want your customers to keep coming back to you. The fact is, it is much more difficult and expensive to find a new customer than it is to retain an old one. And to retain an old customer, a retailer has to, well, ‘pamper’ them a bit. And a little bit of indulgence is not too much to ask for, since they are giving you their money after all.
Shoppers these days are so accustomed to being treated well that they have high expectations. And it is these expectations that keep retailers on their toes. Customers want value for every cent that they spend and want to come out feeling like they have made the most of their cash by giving it to you. Again, it is about the entire shopping experience.
There is another side to customer satisfaction, and that is word of mouth. The impact of word of mouth is phenomenal. Keep in mind that a dissatisfied customer tells more people about his or her bad experience than a satisfied customer would about good experiences. A customer’s bad opinion about your service is enough to burn at least a little hole in your pocket. It might not seem like much, but word of mouth really holds its power over others. Think of it this way, won’t you believe information that is coming from someone you know personally as opposed to paid marketing messages (advertising etc).
There are more than enough reasons why customer service should take front seat in your business. It all boils down to things long-term. You want to ensure that you have long-term customers and relationships to ensure long-term revenues and profits.
