The Customer is Always Right By: Karen Koza
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As In, “Right” to Shop Where She Feels She Is Getting the Best Service

There are over fifteen definitions of the word “service” in the Oxford Dictionary. However, if you ask most people about the exact interpretation of the word as it applies to “customer service”, you are likely to find that most consumers expect to just have their needs or wants met in the name of customer service.

But how about an expectation to have those needs or wants surpassed?

Perhaps that is what should define customer service.

In today’s world of countless suppliers, vendors and retailers and the ensuing competition for our dollars, the service element can and should be a distinguishing element.

We all know what happens when we receive poor customer service. According to published reports, we are likely to tell eleven people when we feel we have been wronged by a business we have frequented. A good experience? Well, we tell just five. Perhaps that’s because it is easier to complain than it is to praise (and unfortunately, sometimes more entertaining), but that doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t strive to either offer or expect good customer service.

Small touches can go a long way in making a customer feel good about her experience. I regularly, make that habitually, shop online for specialty apparel and accessories for my young daughter, and I think, at this point, there’s only a few web sites that I have not surfed and/or made a purchase from (okay, with the latter more likely the case). I recently ordered an adorable hat and poncho from a new site that I discovered and was pleased to see that within minutes of my order, I received a confirmation email, including the details of the shipment and when to expect my credit card to be charged. Five days later and right on time, I received my order and the products were as beautiful as I had anticipated. What I did not expect was the personalized note and the small lollipop enclosed with the products. It was a cute touch and in the seemingly endless world of web sites for children’s wear, Flying Peas will forever stand out for their small but thoughtful effort.

A few days ago, I was in a New York City cab (a dicey proposition that I expose myself to a few times a week) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the taxi’s interior was immaculate and that the driver had thoughtfully provided a box of tissues for patrons in the back window. Shame on me as a cab rider for not expecting the cleanliness, but kudos to the driver for finding a way to do his job the way that it should be done, with the customer’s comfort and safety in mind.

Smart businesses continually ask their customers for feedback on their latest experiences. Even smarter businesses check in on what their customers are saying in independent places, like web sites or blogs. The very smartest of businesses respond when they see that a customer has had an experience short of her expectations. I was recently checking out the reviews of Oasis Day Spa, a full service treatment spa for men and women, on citysearch.com. While most of the reviews were favorable, there were a few dings. Each one of the negative reviews was responded to via a feature called “Response from This Business”, whereby the owner invited several unsatisfied customers to contact him directly so he could rectify the situation. In one or two cases, he addressed a dissatisfied customer’s complaints head-on with a challenge back and an invitation to try other spas for a different experience. The owner’s actions and take charge demeanor underline the point that the customer is always right. Right to demand what she feels is appropriate OR right to go somewhere where she receives the product or service she is seeking.

So maybe that raises the point that perhaps not all customers are exactly rational in their expectations, but it does beg one to consider what one can and might reasonably expect in the name of good customer service. It also highlights that one needs to shop where she can feel that she gets exactly what she wants….. and perhaps just a little bit more.

There is a store in our neighborhood that I frequent, and on occasion, I go out of my way to get the things there that I could really get a few blocks closer to home. However, I rationalize the walk, knowing that the sales clerk always keeps a handful of Hershey’s Kisses behind the register for the kids in strollers (and the moms that they initially pass them to) and some dog treats for our four legged friends on a leash. And don’t think for one second that either children or pets forget it. They all pant as we pass the store, perhaps belying what it takes to create a new generation of loyal customers. Anyone who has ever brushed something off as “just a little kiss” has clearly never had the members of her family pampered in a tiny way while shopping.

Simple gestures can equate to brilliant differences. As a service provider, keep that in mind. As a consumer, never forget it.

And when it comes to the definition of being a “good consumer”, go ahead and tell more people about your positive experiences. Forget the negative ones and be done with that business. By talking about what you like or love in a business, you will have attributed kindly to your part in the ultimate act of customer service.

Karen Koza is a marketing consultant and freelance writer in New York. She may be reached at Karenkozaconsult@aol.com.