First published in Bay of Plenty Business News September 2024 edition
“Customer satisfaction is worthless. Customer loyalty is priceless.” (Jeffrey Gitomer)1
The current economic climate is not an excuse for poor customer service – especially when brand loyalty is being ditched for cheaper alternatives.2
Nor is technology an excuse for poor customer service – especially when the sole purpose of that technology is to acquire customers.
Now, I understand that the current economic climate is incredibly stressful for many businesses,3 and that technology can be far from perfect – but, despite these challenges, if you want to keep your customers and get new customers, then your customer service must be at the top of its game. There is simply no alternative – customers at present are just too valuable.
Hang on…I thought this was supposed to be a column on intellectual property? What’s customer service got to do with IP? Well, it just so happens, quite a lot…
Intellectual property is not just about individual assets like trade marks, patents and plant variety rights. More broadly, it’s also about brand – in particular, brand reputation and goodwill. And one of the key drivers of brand reputation and goodwill is customer service.4
There surely wouldn’t be a marketer in the country who would disagree that you can have the best product or service in the world but if your customer service is less than satisfactory, your chances of repeat sales and referral acquisitions will be significantly impacted. As noted by Michael Summers-Gervai, a director of EY, in a piece entitled “Building loyalty for longevity”, one strategy brands can employ to retain existing clients is to focus on customer experience5:
Which brings me to the title of this article: “Sorry for the inconvenience.” If you have cause to utter these words to a customer, then I really hope for the sake of your brand’s reputation and goodwill that you mean them – and, more importantly, your customer understands that you mean them. I myself have heard these words, or words to this effect, a few times of late and I can honestly say I doubted their conveyers’ sincerity. I have yet to decide whether I will add to Mr Summers-Gervai’s 61%.
- Jeffrey Gitomer is an American salesperson, author, and speaker who writes and lectures on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development.
- https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/growth-agenda/consumer-brand-loyalty-declines-in-hard-times-research-finds/news-story/284ba9fa3b2584c9a3c53888b1a871e4. Accessed 19 August 2024.
- Noting that although readers may not hear about it, the legal profession is also not immune to the effects of economic downturns.
- For an example of discussion on this topic, see https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brand-reputation-customer-experience-bytescare-ofsof/. Accessed 19 August 2024.
- https://www.ey.com/en_nz/future-consumer-index/are-recessions-the-best-times-to-redefine-brand-loyalty. Accessed 16 August 2024.
- Above, citing cx-trends-report-2022.zendesk.com/opportunity.
- Above at n 5, citing www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220418005087/en/Nearly-60-of-Consumers-Would-Prefer-Being-Stuck-in-a-Traffic-Jam-Over-Having-a-Bad-Customer-Experience.
- Above at n 5, citing www.forrester.com/blogs/whats-the-roi-of-cx-transformation/.
