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End the customer service cone of silence

Following up on my post last month: Making Customer Service Sharable

  • Zen Master says:  If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it … does it make a sound?
  • My Dad says: If a bear craps in the woods …
  • Andy says: If you have a great customer service phone call … will anybody ever know?

Most companies have their greatest service moments on the phone.  Problems solved, customers made happy, relationships built.  For every horror story we hear, most companies solve thousands of problems every day in their call center, and most customers leave happy.

And no one ever hears about it.

Negative word of mouth travels on it’s own, but positive word of mouth needs a little help.

I recommend that you end EVERY service call by saying "let me email a summary of what we just did to help you."  Send them a sentence or two and a link to a help page on your web site. (If you want bonus points, include a BIG "thank you" and maybe a coupon.)

This message will get shared, posted, forwarded, saved, and blogged.  It will turn a one-time service moment into a well-traveled word of mouth advertisement. The more useful you make the email, the more word of mouth you get.

Lesson:  You’ve already paid for the support call.  Can 60 seconds extra work turn it into a marketing moment too?

This post was inspired by William Lofton of Verizon Wireless, who provided great service and good conversation while fixing my phone. (Actually, from his email address it looks like he works for WDS Global. Best support I’ve gotten in a long time.)

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