Good customer service involves making sure the customer has a good experience with your product or service, including if there is a problem with your product or service. However, there are many things that make your customer service great, taking it to the next level.
In high-end department stores, customers may be treated to special services like personal shopping or tailoring. In the airline world, frequent fliers accumulate miles and special treatment. The more miles you have flown with a certain airline, the higher your status with the airline, which means you get preferential treatment. Some will argue that this is not customer service but rather customer loyalty or retention programs. Even so, it all is part of aiming to make certain customers are pleased with their interaction with your company or organization.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Macy’s, the national retailer, will be ending gift-wrap services. Macy’s blamed the cost and the small number of customers who used this service. Yet critics like Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, disagreed that this was a good place to practice cost cutting:
Danziger said department stores like Macy’s need to set themselves apart from the discounters by “recapturing the customer-service experience and delivering it to their customers.” She says customers will pay more for quality service that extends to walking out the door with a perfectly wrapped gift.
Many would argue that gift-wrapping is one of those extras that make something more special. Can you gift-wrap at home? Of course you can, but it looks (and feels) much better when it is done for you. On the other hand, perhaps Macy’s no longer is a high-end retailer that owes its customers this particular extra service.
Extras add something special to service. The question remains: which extras are worth the investment?
