Remember all the complaints about service getting worse and worse over the last several years?

Trying to get warranty repair was a nightmare for a lot of people! I could tell you a couple of real horror stories that happened to me…

The point is, that many companies made a strategic decision to write off the quality of their “service” because the bean counters decided that the small percentage of problems didn’t justify the expenditure. In other words, they were wiling to risk losing you as a customer, forever.

Well, the chickens are starting to come home to roost!

Guess what happens when money and credit gets tight? Those companies who cared about customer service always seem to weather the storm…While the companies who were willing to throw customers away suddenly find themselves tanking.

I was raised in a business culture where it was assumed every customer had influence over about 250 people. This was based on an average of 250 people coming to your marriage celebration and 250 people showing up for your funeral…Hey, I didn’t make this up!

Now you tell me: If you were operating a business and each one of your customers could influence an additional 250 other customers, wouldn’t you think long and hard about keeping them happy? I guess the problem with our “modern” ways of customer service never took into account that people have influence over other people…and that word of mouth is still the most powerful form of communication and marketing…

So, don’t be surprised as the economy goes through it’s “correction” that customer service suddenly begins to improve overall. I’ve found myself to be much more loyal to those companies which have provided great customer service.

My personal favorites: Apple, Lexus and Costco…

These guys bought and paid for my loyalty by going the extra mile… The ones who made my experience awful, I’m not going to mention. I don’t plan on doing any more business with them anyway. They blew off thousands in new business because they treated me like I was the problem not their product… But if the name should come up in a conversation, I’ll probably share my experience…

The golden rule should be the first law of customer service: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Isn’t it just common sense…or is that cyclical too?

-Bob Baran