To the Editor:
I would like to take this opportunity to share a few insights related to my previous letter to the LCN editor on the topic of customer service.
First, hundreds of customer satisfaction research projects have consistently shown that customers who are satisfied with their experiences with various companies or institutions will tell, on average three or four people about their “positive” experience. On the other hand, those customers who have a “bad” experience will share their feelings with at least 20 others. Given those numbers, companies should always try to make customer interactions always positive.
Next, I would like to share with your readers two legendary stories from the world of customer satisfaction research. I actually heard these two stories during the week long course I took to obtain my certification as a quality instructor. I think you will find they demonstrate the extremes companies dedicated to providing the highest level of satisfaction will go to achieve that goal.
The first incident involves Nordstrom’s, a national high end retailer of clothing and gift merchandise. It is important to remember what their stores carry as you read the following true story that took place in one of their California stores.
One day a female customer approached a sales associate and told him that she wanted to return a tire her husband purchased at Nordstrom’s, but she did not have a receipt for the tire. Knowing the store did not sell tires, the sales associate contacted the store manager and asked what he should do. The manager told the sales associate to ask the customer how much her husband paid for the tire and to then take the tire back and refund the amount the customer said her husband paid for the tire. No questions asked the customer is always right.
The second story involves Sears, a national retailer with an unconditional year-long return policy. This event actually happened in one of Sears’ Massachusetts stores. It seems a women purchased several dozen towels and then used and washed those towels for almost a year after she purchased them.
One day, just a day or two before the year would be up, she approached a sales associate indicating that she was not happy with her towel purchase and wanted to exchange the towels for new ones. The associate accepted the used towels and exchanged them for new towels. Once again, no questions asked, the customer is always right.
Even more interesting is the fact that this customer was known to the sales staff as she had been buying towels and returning towels just shy of the one year exchange expiration for several years. Once again, the customer is always right.
While both of these examples are extreme examples, they do demonstrate the lengths some companies will go to provide customers the highest level of satisfaction as they recognize the downside of having customers who were not satisfied with their experiences. As I noted above, these examples were taken from a class devoted to developing a culture and commitment to “quality” and its impact on customer satisfaction, retention and ultimately profitability.
I want to thank The Lincoln County News for allowing me to share some of my experience with the subject of customer satisfaction with its readers. As a professional satisfaction researcher, I believe it is important for your readers to recognize there is no legitimate excuse for companies and institutions to provide customers with anything less than a satisfactory experience or interaction.
It is a basic expectation in return for purchasing goods and services in a highly competitive marketplace where there typically are many options available for purchasing essentially identical goods and services.
