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CUSTOMER SERVICE AS A MARKETING TOOL

If you've ever been the victim of bad customer service, you know how it feels and the ways you get revenge. Typically, you stop doing business with that company and you may even encourage your friends to do the same.

But aren't you daily a victim of normal or barely adequate customer service? And more importantly, are you guilty of giving normal or barely adequate customer service in your business?

The consequences of average customer service are dire and the results of using exceptional customer service as a marketing tool, are profound.

Failure to provide better than average customer service may not be readily visible. You may not receive complaints or lose immediate sales. But you also don't give your customers a burning reason to refer their friends, spend more money with you on any given purchase, or return soon to buy again. Normal customer service is costing you thousands of dollars right now, and you can't even see it.

Exceptional customer service builds all three areas of your enterprise. Not only does it encourage your clients to refer, but remember that referred new customers cost you nothing to acquire. You don't have to advertise for them because your happy clients do that for you. The reduction in marketing costs makes you more profitable, both from increased revenues and lower expenses.

You'll also enjoy a greater willingness on the part of clients to spend more with you each time they buy. This is because exceptional customer service builds relationships of trust. When you recommend something, your client is likely to believe you, and believe that they are receiving a worthy value for their dollar. And because, in this day and age, exceptional customer service is such a rarity, many clients will see it as a kind of a "gift" from you to them. A gift that invokes a desire to reciprocate. That reciprocation is manifested in bigger purchases.

This desire to reciprocate may also be manifested in a willingness to buy more often, and to respond to your solicitations. Of course, simply knowing they'll be treated in an extraordinary way makes clients want to come see you again. They're more likely to open and read the direct mail you send them, respond to your customer-focused phone calls, and of course, bring friends with them when they come.

If you want all of these desirable outcomes in your business, may I suggest that you adopt the following, 10-point "CUSTOMER SERVICE MANIFESTO"

1. We are absolutely committed to consistently

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