Why Customers Receiving Good Service Will Stimulate New Business

In the increasingly competitive service sector, it is no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today, customer 'delight' is the stated aim for companies battling to retain and increase market share.

It is accepted in the marketing industry, and confirmed by a number of surveys, that customer receiving good service will stimulate new business by telling up to 12 other people; those treated badly will tell their tales of woe to up to 20 people. Interestingly, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal.

New challenges for customer care have come with the rapid growth in obtaining goods and services via telephone call centers and the internet. Averting 'phone rage' - induced by delays in answering calls, being cut off in mid-conversation or left waiting for long period - has been tackled by vast investment in information technology and training courses.

"Many people do not like talking to machines," says Dr. Storey (Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School), "Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data to establish instant rapport with them. The aim is to make the customer fell they know you and that you can trust them - the sort of reassuring feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch manager."

Recommended ways of inducing customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering (saving that a repair will be carried out with within five hours, but getting it done within two), replacing a faulty product immediately, throwing in a gift voucher as an unexpected thank you to regular customer, and always returning calls, even when they are complaints.

Aiming for customer delight is all very well, but if services do not reach the high level promised, disappointment or worse will be the result. This can be eased by coupling an apology and explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy ("I know how you must fell") and possible solutions (replacement, compensation or whatever fairness suggests best meets the case).

Airlines face some of the toughest challenges over customer care. Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengers is an essential marketing tool, while there is great potential for customer outrage over delays caused by weather, unclaimed luggage and technical problems.

For BA staff, a winning telephone style is considered vital in handling the large volume of calls about bookings and flight times. They are trained to answer quickly, with their name, job title and a "we are here to help" attitude. The company has invested heavily in information technology to ensure information is available instantly on screen.

BA also says its customer care policies apply internally and staff are taught to regard each other as customers requiring the highest standards of service.

Customer care is obviously here to stay and it would be a foolish company that used slogans such as 'we do as we please and are answerable only to our selves'. On the other hand, the more customers are promised, the greater the risk of disappointment.