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Superior Customer Service Lives On In Digital Age

Anita Dukart |
May 16, 2013 | 11:46 a.m. PDT

Guest Contributor

When I called Zappos.com to conduct an interview with their customer service representative, the option after “handle a return” was, “hear our joke of the day.” 

I spoke with Perry Domingo, a member of the Z Customer Loyalty Team, who enthusiastically explained each pillar of their customer service program. Zappos employees are instructed to empathize and let frustrated customers vent. “I had worked in customer service for years, and no company had ever really explained that to me,” said Domingo.

Halfway through one of my questions, she interrupted me and offered to overnight me a copy of the Zappos CEO’s biography, Delivering Happiness.

“I’m mailing a package for my dad tomorrow, so if you’d like, I’d be happy to send you a copy!”

Domingo said that being a member of the Z Customer Loyalty Team has been life changing. She raved about the employee empowerment and described setting the longest phone call record, clocking in at over eight hours—a record that has since been broken twice.

“People brought me snacks. They would walk by and high five me,” she said, “I was just happy to be helping.”

This may be a theme in businesses as successful as Zappos. Customer service is not just a priority—it’s the center of their business model.

According to a recent American Express study, seven in ten Americans are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more on products offered by companies that they believe have excellent customer service.

Here’s how that translates—70 percent of Americans would so much rather shop somewhere where employees are helpful and returns are easy that they would spend just under $85 on a dress that would cost $75 at a store that falls short in those areas.
   
In both online and brick-and-mortar businesses, customers are starting to pay more attention to the way they’re treated.

Ira Kalb, a professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business, wrote an article for Business Insider about Time Warner Cable’s decline, citing customer service as a serious problem. 

“If they take care of customers, the money will follow. If they chase after the money by cutting customer service quality or charging for previously included items, as they have done since they started in the cable TV business, they will end up losing the customers and money,” wrote Kalb.

Another article in Forbes, written by Larry Downes, discussed a similar problem with Best Buy. Downes wrote that customer service problems are at the center of the electronics store’s decline.

“To discover the real reasons behind the company’s decline, just take this simple test. Walk into one of the company’s retail locations or shop online.  And try, really try, not to lose your temper,” he wrote.

He specifically cites Amazon as an example of a booming business giant that treats customers well, and reaps financial benefits as a result.

“Not to beat a nearly-dead retailer, but does Best Buy know that Amazon not only allows easy return or exchange for DVDs without restrictions, the company will even buy back ones you’re finished with?  And even if the customer is outside the return window or is otherwise technically not entitled to do what she’s asking to do, the company bends over backwards to bend its policies in the interest of happy customers and the on-going customer relationship.”

Seattle’s department store giant, Nordstrom, has made themselves famous for their employee handbook, which consists of: “Rule #1: Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.”

Nordstrom employees are encouraged to go out of their way for their customers—personal shopping appointments, home deliveries and thank you notes are all par for the course.

The Nordstrom family is frequently quoted telling stories about their service. In one, a woman lost her engagement ring’s center stone while shopping, only to have it found hours later inside a vacuum cleaner bag.

Many new employees are instructed on how to handle returns by listening to a story about a man who wanted to return tires to the store—which they accepted, because the Nordstrom building had previously housed a tire shop.

Of course, for some people on a budget, customer service may not be such a priority.

“I prefer to shop on my own without sales people trying to sell more items to me under the facade of being ‘helpful,’” said Amanda Schubert, a college student.

She explained that online shopping, especially, is her go-to when she’s bored, or shopping within a defined price range.

“Basically, what I look for in an online store is a place that has a large catalog to browse and has cheap prices,” said Schubert, adding that for more expensive purchases, she prefers to shop in person. “If I'm going to spend a lot of money, I want to be able to see the product and try it on before I buy it.”

Customer service isn’t something that many people expect from lower-budget shopping destinations, like Forever 21 and Target. These stores are advantageous for other reasons, like variety of inventory and price point.

Schubert said that customer service is always a plus, but, “ultimately, I’m shopping for the product and not the experience.”

She’s not the only one who thinks that way. Some say that customer service is important, but really online retailers have the biggest advantage in the retail markets.

“Online giants, notably Amazon, are the future. Online retailers are more efficient, because they lack physical locations, and so can offer better prices. Shopping online is also more convenient. On the web, consumers can shop anywhere they are, day or night,” wrote Downes in his article about Best Buy.

After all, with apps like “Amazon Price Check,” it’s not hard for a customer to shop in a physical store, but scan the barcode with their phone to check Amazon’s price before purchasing. In fact—they can purchase the exact same item in that moment faster than they’d get through the checkout line.

 

Reach guest contributor Anita Dukart here



 

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