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Brick No107: The real purpose of customer service
By Matt Weston, Friday 29 October 2004 Double back The clocks fall back this Sunday. And they always catch me out. I used to forget. But for the last couple of years I've contrived to turn the clocks back two hours instead of one. (My video, my clock radio and my mobile all automatically adjusted, I never realised they were so sophisticated). Today, instead of building on Tuesday's brick - which served to make me simultaneously the hero and villain of the small business community - I'm going to double back to last Friday's riff on making your website sell. Only this time, I'm not going to confine the debate to websites. As you'll see if you read right to the end, this lesson can apply to any sales situation, bricks or clicks. A reader writes Reader Iain Row sent me the best reply last Friday. And rather than try to paraphrase his argument, I thought I'd let his email do the talking. The soapbox is yours, Iain: " Nice brick, Matt. " I run a web design firm, and this is our slogan: "Our websites work as hard as you do" . . . " I work for schools, charities, not-for-profits as well as businesses, and the questions they ask are equally as pertinent as "Does it sell?" . . . e.g. How easy is it to update? Can I do it? Can the office administrator? Do we have to be in the office to update it? Will it work on any browser? Can I reuse this content somewhere else? " And we're starting to move toward using the web to cut costs. The internet is about much more than selling, just like telephones are, for example. " If all companies used their phones for was selling to the exclusion of all else, they would struggle to get any work done. The sales guy on the road couldn't call in to get the latest figures for his next appointment, the delivery guy couldn't let the office know when he'd delivered the package, and so on. " Just my tuppence, Iain. " This is what I wrote in reply: " Iain " I guess I mean "sell" in the widest sense. I would argue that almost all of your clients are selling something, whether it be a better education (schools), or the feel-good factor (charities/ not-for-profits). " Whether you seek to swap goods for money, or simply get somebody to sign up to a petition, you are trying to "sell" them the idea/ the dream. " The sale, whatever you take that to be, should almost always be the primary goal . . . IMHO questions like "will it work on any browser?" are simply secondary factors that help deliver the primary goal, "how does this site sell?" Do you get my gist? " You have a point re: using the web to cut costs. But again, I think there's a very strong argument that the real purpose (if you boil it down) of customer service/ better delivery is to take a step towards the next sale. " Best wishes! Matt " Whatever it is you do, you're selling something. Iain's delivery guy is really just contributing to the outstanding customer service, which in turn contributes to the repeat sale. Sure, I'm completely "for" outstanding customer service, but it really boils down to an investment in the next sale . . . and that applies whether you're dealing with your customers on or off-line. Remember to sign up: back to top |
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