It would probably be a safe bet that you have a cell phone. It would also probably be a safe bet that at one point or another they have been less than stellar in their customer service. Whether it was billing or a DOA phone or dropping your message box it has happened. The worst part is not that is happens but that it takes them so long to fix the problem.

Personally I bought a new phone in August and have had all of the above. At one point it cost me over $3000 in lost work let alone the time I spent on the phone with Bell Canada. They have lost my message box, over billed me, and given me problems over a phone that didn’t work when I got it.

I am not a happy customer. I would not recommend their service. I will not buy a phone on contract again cause they essentially have my money garaunteed so they have no incentive to fix my problem.

This is totally contrary to how you want to deal with customers. We all know that word of mouth is the best way to get new clients or customers in the door. With the recommendation I gave above would you use Bell Canada? Probably not. The first time I called with a problem it should have been fixed the first time.

Blindly Good Customer Service

When I used to work sales the policy was that a happy customer would bring in their friends and their friends would purchase. I remember trading in for full value a 1 year old $4000 kayak that someone didn’t like. They had come in over the year to talk about the boat. We test paddled it with him gave him tips and he tried them all. At the end he sheepishly came back and said that it still wasn’t the right boat and we said okay let’s get you the right boat.
sea_kayak_panorama

The Payoff of Lost Income

With surprise on his face he asked how much he would get for the old one and we said full price at time of sale. More astonished he bought a boat for himself and upgraded his wife’s boat. Two weeks later his friends came in and boat two boats.

That $1000 loss in value of selling a used boat returned $15,000 in sales so it was well worth it. So how do you go over and above to provide service to your clients? How do you make sure that they’re you biggest fans? Short term loss can win long term relationships.