In the world of social media and public relations it is SO easy to get caught up and forget about customer service. It’s easy to remember to promote your own products and push your own agenda, but when you forget about the importance of serving your customer you have forgotten the whole point of business.
A few weeks ago my Dad’s friend Jay died from a very serious brain tumor. He died less than a month after his diagnosis. My dad and him were golf buddies, which in guy terms is a VERY serious type of friendship. It means that you can spend entire days at a time with someone, compete with them on the course and still want to eat dinner with them afterward. My dad really, really misses Jay. But the good news is that if you are amazing to the people you serve (your customers, friends, community, etc.), you never really die.
Dick Yarbrough wrote a great article about Jay and his sincere passion for customer service. He tells the story of how Jay drove 20 miles after work to his art supply warehouse to get a customer a $40 easel. “He no doubt lost money on the sale, but he gained a loyal customer,” said Yarbrough. “Others have told of similar efforts he made on their behalf. No customer request was too unimportant for this man.”
Jay’s dedicated service to his customers had nothing to do with money though. It had everything to do with loyalty and respect for his customers.
“Just remember that it doesn’t matter if you are selling widgets, want ads, ham sandwiches, sophisticated investment services or $40 wooden easels — it is all the same,” said Yarbrough. “The difference is in how you treat the customer. The customer comes first. Not your ego.”
Serve your customers well and they will do the rest of the work for you.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Blake -
I love this and totally agree that customer service should come first. My question is, as a public relations or social media professional within a large organization, how can you have a positive impact on customer service from the PR office? A lot of PR people aren’t necessarily on the “front lines” or put in situations where they are dealing directly with customers. Any thoughts? Thanks very much!
Hey Gina-
Great question! While PR professionals don’t typically “serve” customers directly, I like to think of it this way: If we are promoting and pitching the VERY BEST content we have then we are indirectly giving our customer amazing service. If we are pitching crappy stories, bothering editors and promoting terrible ideas than we are doing a serious disservice to our customers.
Likewise with social media, if we are making an effort to reach out and have genuine conversations with our customers and help them as needed than we are also providing them with great service.
Thanks for stopping by!
great blog post!
This is the ESSENCE of customer service Blake – serve your customers well, make them feel valued and appreciated (because they are – customers are what make your business the success that it is) – and let them do the hard work for you. When I spoke in San Antonio a couple weeks ago, this was the message we hammered home, that by creating brand evangelists, you don’t have to focus on the old school sales approach – you can focus on building strong relationships and in turn, those customers will go and sing your praises to everyone they know.
Hey Matt-
Exactly! The importance of making people feel valued seems to hardly exist anymore. Remember the importance of your customers and treat them well!
I think companies are coming full circle with this though, and realizing that customer service in this day and age trumps price. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather pay a slight premium for something if it means I’m going to get top notch customer service. We’re paying for an overall experience in many cases, not just a product.
The web, Social Media – these are all things that are allowing companies to really build and nurture those customer relationships over the long haul.