Many companies have finally realized that customer service matters. After all, competing on price alone will only take you so far. In this age of press 1 for an automated voice that reads out another list of menu items that don’t match your situation, getting a pleasant and helpful person on the other end of the phone or in the store can make all the difference in brand loyalty. And when your product isn’t really all that different from your competitors, you win by making customers happy.
Customer Service Kudos
In the last month alone, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by service at four big companies: GEICO, CHASE Credit Cards, Michaels, and Bed Bath & Beyond. At GEICO, I had two experiences: one to remove a car from our insurance plan and the second to deal with repairing my vandalized car. At each point in the process, I spoke to helpful, friendly people. There wasn’t a weak link in the chain. Everyone from the person who answered the phone to the insurance adjuster was on my side. To be sure they are want to get high marks on the telephone survey you take after the experience but that’s ok. At GEICO, there is clearly an emphasis on delivering great service.
At Chase Cards, I had a dispute with a merchant. I called Chase, got to a person right away without being put on hold and explained my problem. She took my complaint and then said, let’s call the merchant together. She dialed the number, stayed on the phone until it was resolved and then told me she would monitor the account to make sure the charge was removed. And she followed through. Wow!
