Is Service in Your Culture?

Often I hear companies tell me that it is their service that separates them from the pack. Many point at the lack of service from the Duopoly. All that tells me is that the bar is so low for customer service.

“While it’s not news to customers that a majority of organizations don’t “get it” when it comes to customer service, it may be news to the companies themselves. After all, they’ve invested money in customer support software, they’ve hired teams of agents and hand-picked a manager. They’ve even included the fact that “customer service is their number one priority” in all their marketing materials. But customers are still complaining. So what gives?” [ccc]

“Companies don’t care about you. The question, then, is this institution owned and organized and run by people who will allow the people who work there to care?” That is a Culture Question. Rackspace, Zappos, Nordstrom are a few who do have a culture of service.

“A recent report issued by Forbes Insights and commissioned by Oracle found that 62 percent of companies still fail to grasp the full importance and impact customer service can have when it is an organization-wide strategic goal, according to a recent SMBWorld Asia editorial.” [ccc]

“Customer service is difficult, expensive and unpredictable.” [Seth]

“Customer service succeeds when it accomplishes what the organization sets out to accomplish.” [Seth] That is if you have a culture of service wrapped around strategic goals for service.

One use of customer service:

“To create a significant competitive advantage by engaging with customers in a way that others can’t or won’t.” [Seth] I think this is what many think they do, but there are ways to do this that turn your customers into Raving Fans, Brand Ambassadors, referral agents and your churn goes to zero, your ARPU goes up, and your customer acquisition cost declines.

“Customer service, like everything an effective organization does, changes people. Announce the change you seek, then invest appropriately, in a system that is likely to actually produce the outcomes you just said you wanted.” [Seth]