Is Customer Service the New Marketing tool

Wow! This idea hit me while writing a piece on Customer Disservice on the Call Center floor. I found that every interaction with a customer or potential customer is a vote for or against your company and services provided.

A mistake made fifty years ago may not have seen the light; however, today mistakes can go around the world in a matter of minutes. The confidence and trust that took a year to build can be loss in a matter of minutes. In this digital society, there is no room for mistakes, once that error goes viral confidence diminishes. Today; it could cost your livelihood?

Today’s customers are savvy educated shoppers with choices. Our job is to recognize customer value. In doing so, we ensure all involved provide excellent service to the valued customer. One unpleasant experience travels further and faster than the good ones. Once expectations are met, you will have a customer for life. That is why we strive to provide professional, friendly, courteous service at each encounter with customers. Fifty percent of our business is by word of mouth, so we understand and value the customer service provided to our client knowing their referrals are earned.

An article I read in The Forbes magazine by Matt Mickiewicz suggests: Treat your customers as if they were newspapers reporters; this is the new mantra for savvy companies of all sizes.

As consumers, we’ve become disenchanted with advertising and marketing of all sorts, having being duped, tricked or made to feel foolish on more than one occasion. The last true medium that holds sway is referrals from friends, colleagues, or online reviews from the likes of Yelp, Angie’s List or TripAdvisor. According to a survey by the American Marketing Association, 90 percent of consumers trust peer reviews and 70 percent trust online reviews.

I think Matt summed it up well; referrals from those we trust are trustworthy, they’re also the best marketing tool any company could hope to have.

Comments

comments