Great Customer Service
Ok, this post may not be what you expect from our blog, but I had to share two great examples of excellent customer service that I experienced recently. It is my opinion that excellent service is ever important in this time of low switching costs and doing it right has approximately zero marginal cost.
Example 1: My family went to Cirque du Soleil last weekend in SF. The show was Kooza. I have been to 5 or 6 of their shows and this was perhaps the best. Of course “O”, Mystere, and KA are amazing as well, but they cheat with the uber expensive permanent stage. Kooza was literally set up on a concrete parking lot. It makes the show even more amazing. Now for anyone who knows me, I have sensitive hearing due to playing in a band during my more foolish college days (guitar in case you care). So I tend to go everywhere with ear plugs to avoid feeling ill the next day. So in the middle of the show, a stagehand comes up to me and offers me (in a french accent) earplugs. Since I had my own in already, but he couldn’t tell, I politely refuse and thank him for the offer. he then proceeds to offer a set to my 3 year old daughter next to me.
Think how amazing that is. Some guy working the set during the show saw me hunched over with fingers in my ears (as discreetly as possible) and thought enough to leave his job for a moment to make sure I was comfortable. What an amazing show of true customer service.
Example 2: My wife and I have been together now for 13 or so years. So we figured it was time to get a King bed. You’ll find that the longer you are with someone, the more room you need. So we bought a new bed and of course had to get a new frame as well. The local furniture store delivered it the other day and as a first stroke of genius, they delivered it themselves. They didn’t outsource it. The owner was there and kind as ever. As a final touch, they left us with a nicely decorated candle.
Neither of these things cost much, they are just examples of great customer service. A lost art these days, and it all begins with caring about your customer. Well done.
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November 29th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
The local furniture store delivered it the other day and as a first stroke of genius, they delivered it themselves. They didn’t outsource it. The owner was there and kind as ever. As a final touch, they left us with a nicely decorated … morehere
November 28th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
postedGreat Customer Serviceon Oracle AppsLab
November 28th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Agreed. Good service is truly a lost art. Amazon sparkles in this area too. Look around amazon.com for an 800 number, and you’ll go mad. Google it, and you’ll find it on the first page. Call them up and experience what really good customer service is like when people actually have time to take care of your problem. Brilliant theory. Use email for as much as you can, leave the toll-free number as an Easter egg, and ensure your reps don’t get overloaded.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
An article worth reading on great customer service in the software industry is: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html
January 4th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Thanks for the tip, I’ll have a look.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Great article.
Your readers might want to try http://www.Measuredup.com a leading customer service review website where people share reviews with other users and with companies. Companies that are involved with and value customer service read Measuredup to keep up on what people are saying and to be able to improve customer service.
It is free and easy to use.