Why Good Customer Support Is Essential
Customer support is an essential part of any business, an online one is no different. If you sell a product it is commonplace to give some level of support to the customer. By service, I don’t mean bending over backwards for every picky customer (that will just waste time and money), but I mean just providing assistance to improve the general customer experience and assist with any problems with the product they may have.
You may dismiss this, but it’s crucial. Allow me to demonstrate what I mean with an example from real life.
As stated in a previous post, a couple days ago my hard drive blew out. I’m on vacation and am out of Canada (I’m in the United States). So, when I call the computer companies support line in the US I get juggled back to Canada support. After being on the phone with Canada support for a hour, I get sent back to the US support to order the part. After finally ordering the part (2+ hours of time on the phone), I sit down and wait. I asked for next day service, so it should have been here yesterday. The result, it wasn’t. When I called up again, they told me my order was shifted to arrive on a date AFTER I was gone, and they couldn’t cancel it. So here is problem, due to poor communication (I never got an email about it) and dumb service, I have to fight out a charge for a hard drive with Visa, my computer is out of commission (well my laptop at least) for a while longer, and the company in question has lost my business as a loyal customer.
Loosing a loyal customer sucks, these are people that stick by you and buy your product and recommend it to others. Customer service is supposed to help them, not turn them away. So the moral of my story, provide adequate customer support and service. Provide enough to keep people happy and the loyal people loyal.
If the company in question had taken a few more steps to help me perhaps it would be different. Perhaps I wouldn’t be buying a laptop from a different maker when I get back home. I guess it’s their loss, and a lesson we should all learn from 
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Ooooh the stories I could tell. I have a lot of those experiences over the years. I can’t stand it when you’re treated like just another ticket number.
One thing it does do is really help out the companies who DO have excellent customer service. When you’re used to crappy service and all of a sudden you’re treated “right” by a new company, you’re so shocked and ecstatic that you want to stay loyal to them forever. lol
Good post
Cheers!
Jay
Jays last blog post..How Powerful Is A Premium Wordpress Theme?
Customer support. Ah. I’ve been told this by my day-job managers that “customers are always right” (even when sometimes, they’re wrong). But just to make them happy and want to come back, we have to do everything we can right?
Sly
@ Jay - ha ha share some man, these stories suck and the companies should pay (for some better reps lol). Well, yeah, a good service rep goes a long way to getting me to stick with a company
@ Sly - the customer ISN’T always right, you have to look at how hard you want a customer, the more you want one, the more crap you put up with. But you should always try and make the customer happy
Yes, great customer service will definitely set you apart among the crowd! I hate sucky customer service with a passion lol
Normal Joes last blog post..How to launch a website. Want to see a live site launch?
I try my hardest to give the best service I can…. sometimes I give too much but in general it keeps people sticking around.
Sorry to hear about your HD, that really sucks!!
Forests last blog post..Heat Things Up with this Frugal use for a Condom
@ Joe - you and me both!
@ forest - yeah, you’re amazing
But thanks for the good wishes..
One thing that has always blown my mind, at least on the internet marketing side of things is that many people do not take the time to setup an inexpensive help desk and do not put themselves out in a transparent way.
I know I make myself available for all the products I sell plainly and simply as I can. A phone number, email, IM nicks, etc is all there for you to get the support you need.
This is exactly what I look for when I am searching for a product. BTW anyone know when the next sale for rapid action profits will be? I need a copy.
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