This title may not be the best grammar, but I think it brings the point across. Do you remember the 1957 movie, The Incredible Shrinking Man? The plot was that a scientist gets contaminated with radiation until basically he is microscopic. Well, that is what is happening to customer service today.
As corporations put millions of dollars into marketing and saying how they are the best, the have chosen to forget about the fundamentals, which is after the flash causes the buy, then the crash can cause the burn. That is, once you buy, what is important is after sales service and particularly how a firm deals with an issue.
I have always, in my corporate and private buying roles said, every supplier will encounter issues...so I never judge them on that, but on how they deal with it and how they move forward to resolve it and ensure it doesn't happen again.
You would figure in these recessionary times there would be a significant focus on maintaining your current client base -- that is keeping your clients "happy". Yet it seems in many cases the opposite is true...once the sale is made, damn the torpedoes, there off to the next potential victim.
This last weekend on a personal note, I've had two extremes...the good, followed by the ugly/bad. Yet even though this is a personal anecdote, this is also highly applicable in business to business transactions.
First, the good. I have been looking to buy appliances for quite a while and although I had always bought them previously from a major retailer, I chose to go to a appliance distributor. They have ads on the radio and I started going there about 6 months ago, trying to find the right 3 appliances -- issue was space. Well, over 6 months, dealt with the same sales person, and finally this last weekend I made the buy. At this point the sales rep, gave me the name of the installer this distributor uses, and said to save money go direct to him. (and he is the best) He also asked that I call him when I am told that the appliances are ready for delivery and he will coordinate drop off, pick up etc. He also said anytime if I have a question or issue to call him, because he would hope that he'll get referral business...well you can bet he will.
Second, bought some new light fixtures for outside the house. When the electrician was here..it became obvious the fixtures were manufactured crooked. The electrician and I went to the store (he had recommended this store) and they said well the others are a little crooked but perhaps good enough...no way ..said I. So I bought two others, slightly more expensive, but a known brand. To compensate for the issue, they gave me two tiny chandelier bulbs, which are too small for the fixture. Well got them back to
the house...the first one was OK, the second, not so much. So the electrician went back, got a new one, and suggested they give me light bulbs for free that would properly show in the fixture...you know what they said to him...sorry, that will cost us $7 so we aren't going to do it....they didn't care that the electrician lost time, spent gas etc. and as well my day was shot...for $7...so do you think that I will be recommending this lighting store...no, in fact I will be trashing them at every opportunity.
I have many other examples, and it seems recently things have gotten worse. If it keeps going like this, we will have to chase customer service into the next dimension, because just like the incredible shrinking man, customer service is soon to be microscopic in many organizations.
As corporations put millions of dollars into marketing and saying how they are the best, the have chosen to forget about the fundamentals, which is after the flash causes the buy, then the crash can cause the burn. That is, once you buy, what is important is after sales service and particularly how a firm deals with an issue.
I have always, in my corporate and private buying roles said, every supplier will encounter issues...so I never judge them on that, but on how they deal with it and how they move forward to resolve it and ensure it doesn't happen again.
You would figure in these recessionary times there would be a significant focus on maintaining your current client base -- that is keeping your clients "happy". Yet it seems in many cases the opposite is true...once the sale is made, damn the torpedoes, there off to the next potential victim.
This last weekend on a personal note, I've had two extremes...the good, followed by the ugly/bad. Yet even though this is a personal anecdote, this is also highly applicable in business to business transactions.
First, the good. I have been looking to buy appliances for quite a while and although I had always bought them previously from a major retailer, I chose to go to a appliance distributor. They have ads on the radio and I started going there about 6 months ago, trying to find the right 3 appliances -- issue was space. Well, over 6 months, dealt with the same sales person, and finally this last weekend I made the buy. At this point the sales rep, gave me the name of the installer this distributor uses, and said to save money go direct to him. (and he is the best) He also asked that I call him when I am told that the appliances are ready for delivery and he will coordinate drop off, pick up etc. He also said anytime if I have a question or issue to call him, because he would hope that he'll get referral business...well you can bet he will.
Second, bought some new light fixtures for outside the house. When the electrician was here..it became obvious the fixtures were manufactured crooked. The electrician and I went to the store (he had recommended this store) and they said well the others are a little crooked but perhaps good enough...no way ..said I. So I bought two others, slightly more expensive, but a known brand. To compensate for the issue, they gave me two tiny chandelier bulbs, which are too small for the fixture. Well got them back to
the house...the first one was OK, the second, not so much. So the electrician went back, got a new one, and suggested they give me light bulbs for free that would properly show in the fixture...you know what they said to him...sorry, that will cost us $7 so we aren't going to do it....they didn't care that the electrician lost time, spent gas etc. and as well my day was shot...for $7...so do you think that I will be recommending this lighting store...no, in fact I will be trashing them at every opportunity.I have many other examples, and it seems recently things have gotten worse. If it keeps going like this, we will have to chase customer service into the next dimension, because just like the incredible shrinking man, customer service is soon to be microscopic in many organizations.
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