Why Customer Service is More Crucial Now... for Any Business

 Within the past two weeks I’ve had two run-ins with bad customer service. And while both of these instances will result in me doing less (or zero) business with these particular establishments, in this post I will talk about the first instance. Over the weekend I took my kids to an art store about one-half mile from my apartment to pick up a few things. When a clerk told me that the stuff we were looking for was on the 4th floor, I asked where I could leave our stroller. He replied something like "I don't know if you can just leave it... you can ask the security guard at the front and maybe he will let you."  Well the security guard was nice and had no problem with us leaving the stroller. We then went up to the 4th floor (where all the kid's stuff was) and there were 2 clerks in a relatively small space.  Neither got up off their chairs to help us or, when we asked where something was, would show us other than pointing. Truth is, the service wasn't "terrible" - but it wasn't great. And something tells me, especially given that the store was pretty empty, that the owners are worried about how the economy is affecting their business. Chances are, the store's owners are focusing on cash flow, marketing ideas and headcount cuts, but one of their top priorities needs to be customer service. Let me explain why... Companies spend tons of money to get people to call them (e.g., service providers), come into their stores and visit their websites. In the case of my weekend trip to the art store, I was already inside the store. So here I am, a qualified customer, ready to spend money.  After the first clerk told me that there might not be a place for my stroller, I could have walked out. Even after the clerks on the 4th floor weren't helpful, I could have walked out. While I did end up spending $30 at the store, I could have easily not spent any money there due to the poor level of customer service. Now, the management or ownership might want to blame the employees, but we all know bad customer service starts with ownership.   Experienced business people will always tell you that "your current customer is your best prospect". We, as business owners, need to focus on customer service now, more than ever. Due to the economy, it is becoming harder to generate revenue from both new and old customer's alike. The last thing you want to do is risk losing a customer who is ready to buy from you. This is a risk you can mitigate by instilling great customer service principals. John DiJulius, one of the world's top service experts, has written several articles for NY Report on customer service. He will also be our expert for our February webinar The 10 Customer Service Commandments, and speaking at our Driving Incremental Revenue with Outstanding Service event right here in Manhattan on March 11th. I encourage you to read the articles, check out the webinar and/or attend the event, because your company's customer service starts with, and depends on, you. PS - I have heard some people say that it is expensive to implement world class customer service. Bullshit. DiJulius' step-by-step outline on delivering customer service doesn't cost much to implement - it just take the desire (and elbow-grease) to do so.