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Is customer service the first line of defense?
I'm a coder for a start-up company, but I've been hearing negative feedback about our lack of customer service. In my opinion, customer service is like judging a book by its cover. We have great bloggers and great contributors who create content for us, so is customer service the most important ingredient for success when dealing with start-up sites?
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3 Answers
I wouldn't necessarily say its the first line of defense or the most important ingredient, but customer service is a very important to a successful start-up business. They serve as the "face" of the company. If they don't respond in the provided time limit, things can obviously get sour between the provider and its customer. I work in an industry where customer service is crucial on all levels, so maybe talk to upper management or challenge the team to step up their part. In the beginning, everyone needs to add value to the company and it seems unfair to the rest of the company if one section is lacking production. Good luck with the situation.
Depends on your audience, product, etc. NO matter what, customer loyalty is the most important part of any business. Doesn't matter the industry or product. If customers hate you then your product will suffer substantially. Not to mention the power of the internet can literally destroy you in about 10 minutes.
With that said, if you're selling $2.00 screwdrivers and $4.00 hammers then your customer probably shrugs if they have problems and says "whatever." If you're selling software at $30.00+ a seat then it would be in your best interest to answer the phone.
For any start up its a necessity to provide good customer service, and in this economic climate you HAVE to keep your customers happy. Every company has everything on the table right now, and everything is renegotiable. Your competitors are circling like vultures and salivating to capture market share you're loosing out on if your customers don't stay loyal to you.
Again, customer loyalty is most important. If you compensate them for your lack in customer service then they should stay loyal.
Hi Shaun,
Jason is absolutely right - I just want to add, if you have a VERY unique product and the customer has nowhere else to go, maybe you can last a little while but if your company is not able to raise its game you will find customers have found their own alternative product OR you competitors are now in your market but use their customer service.
Personalise it - if there are two newstands next to each other. In one the attendant ignores or at worst abuses you as a customer while in the other the attendant is polite and helpful yet the pubications are 1-2% more expensive. MOST people will not want a discount just to be treated with no respect (most of the time).
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