Customer service is good business, but difficult to track

The other day, my wife complained to me about a certain company who didn’t care about their customers. She couldn’t believe their poor customer service and their unwillingness to help her, a longtime customer.

My response: Many businesses don’t believe customer service will generate revenue, so they don’t invest much money in it. Until they see that bad customer service hurts business or good customer service helps business, they won’t change.
I personally believe that great customer service is great for business. Take a look at Zappos, an online retailer whose sales have doubled every year since 1999. Not only have their revenues been increasing steadily, but a mind-blowing 75% of customers buy from them again. Why? Because they are built around customer service.

So, why don’t all companies invest the funds needed to provide great customer service? Because the results of customer service are difficult to track.

For example, if I read bad reviews about your company or product, chances are I’m not going to give you my business. Will you ever know just how many sales your poor service cost? Of course not. However, in a few years you’ll wonder where all your customers went.

Do you want a great way to save money? Invest in customer service. Great service is more important today than it has ever been, as the internet has provided your customers a platform to voice their opinions about your company. What they say is largely determined by how you treat them, and what they say affects the behavior of potential customers more than you can imagine.