Customer Support
Posted on September 14, 2006, 5:37 am by E-junkieChef under E-commerceEver wondered why Southwest does so well playing the cost card whereas the other airlines don't, while they do the same. What is it that Southwest does differently? After all it does have to pay the same salaries, repair and fuel cost as the competitors. The answer may very well lie in the customer service. It's the customer service that often gives one company edge over it's competitor similar in every other regard and which is something so intangible that most of us will be forgiven if we overlook it as being something that brings competitive advantage.
Lou Gerstner the man who turned around IBM, realized during his stint with McKinsey that more often than not what makes or breaks a company is not some path breaking strategy but doing things right day in and day out and keeping their customers happier than the competition.
Whether it's CEOs of conglomerates or entrepreneurs starting out, all successful business persons has recognized the immense value that customer service adds to a business. What they also recognize is that unlike what most people think customer service is quite different from after sales service. After sales service is just one small subset of customer service. The greatest customer service that a company can provide its customers is to create a product for which no after sales service is needed.
Probably one of the best examples of this broad minded thinking was displayed by Richard Branson, the colorful CEO of the vastly popular Virgin Atlantic. While the entire airline industry was in doldrums and was scampering away from incurring any fresh expenses, Branson realized the need for on flight entertainment and tried to install screens for in flight movies. When no bank gave him the loans to do something which seemed as absurd as this, he did something astounding. He made a new deal with the airline company for the purchase of an entire fleet with the condition that they would themselves install the screens in the planes. The airline was more than happy to meet this request because of the condition of the industry and banks felt safer when they had an entire plane to mortgage and not just a television screen.
While the above may seem like pushing the envelope and example that not many of us can follow, the point here is to think of customer service as just any another business service to the customer in whatever form possible. It can be in as many forms as your imagination allows you to think.
Once you get it into your head that customer service is something which can make or break your business and not something which starts with a customer complaint, it is something that really is quite simple. You listen to what your customers are saying about your product as well as your competitor's, and then try and improve or add on to what you have to offer based on what you hear. Ultimately it is giving your customers what they are looking for and nothing fancier. For instance, if you see that as a tax consultant your customers who are getting their personal income taxes done would also want to come to you for their property related issues, not only would hiring a real estate consultant add a source of revenue to your company it would be an additional service to your customers as they now have a single window for their needs.
Ultimately we are in business because some one out there is spending their hard earned money to buy the goods or services that we have to offer. Customer service is nothing but respecting that individual, providing her value for her money and bringing her the performance that she spent the money for.
