MSN Money conducted its fourth annual customer service survey, where it found the top ten companies for service in the United States, and the bottom ten. You can read a recap here.
From the survey, the companies that did best had all or several of the following attributes:
- Providing a positive experience in the store (for retail outlets)
- Having knowledgeable staff
- Fair pricing of products/services
- Providing quality services
- Promotions that make customers feel appreciated (like checking baggage for free on Southwest Airlines)
- No taking customers for granted
- Not penalizing customers excessively with fees and add ons
- Avoiding surprise charges
- Reducing customer’s stress
- Delivering what is advertised
What ties these attributes together is that they are customer-centric, rather than company-centric. When companies forget that they are working with customers, and become too focused on bottom-line concerns, customers notice and complain or even defect. Companies that did poorly on the survey seemed to not practice these “rules” but to do so over the long term.
What are you doing to ensure you customers remain satisfied?
