This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.
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In my full-time profession as an RV sales guy, I tell my customers to contact me directly if they ever have any questions or problems with their RV. Ever. Yesterday, a little old lady who’d bought a motor home from me nearly three years ago called me with a minor problem. We reconnected immediately, and I took care of her problem.
I love having that kind of relationship with my customers. Why? Mostly, because I don’t trust anyone else to handle them the way I’d want them handled. My guess is the customers like it that way too. Further, in my opinion, it’s just good salesmanship.
I bring this up because Mike Duffy made an interesting comment on one of my posts a few days ago.
"If you want to be really wacky, imagine what it would be like if
customers could choose which of your employees they wanted to interact
with. No one wants to fly with Captain Bob – they all want on Captain
Denny’s flight. What a nightmare for a company that thinks traditionally
(like most airlines)."Imagine reputation management for your employees
like eBay’s seller-ratings. Think it would improve their awareness of how
they treat customers? Of course, then you get into the problem with idiotic
corporate policies (which you discuss in your "Experiential Marketing" post
today)."
So, I have a problem with my local phone service or DSL line. I call SBC and speak with . . . whoever. What if I could pick my own CSR? I’ll just call my friend Kathy over at SBC. She always takes care of me. Maybe she sends me an email or leaves me a brief phone message each month just to let me know she’s still there and standing by to help with any questions or problems that might come up for me. And oh by the way, I trust her completely, so when she thinks I might
be able to use some new product or service offered by SBC, I’m more than open to
her offer.
In a similar post, Jim Logan looks at customer advocacy from another perspective in I love Customers, That’s Why I don’t Like Customer Advocates.
"I like the idea of customer advocacy. It’s the idea of having a
Customer Advocate that I don’t like. Customer service, satisfaction,
and problem resolution with unhappy clients isn’t the job of one
person, it’s the responsibility of all – everyone that comes in contact
with the client and the business policies a company or firm establish."
I agree whole-heartedly with that ideal, Jim. And yet, there’s something special about having a friend on the inside that makes a customer feel secure with a company.