Marketing Online

In an age of increasing product commoditization, service quality is
one of the most promising sources of differentiation and distinction.
Giving good service is the essence of practicing a customer
orientation Yet many companies view service as a pain, a cost, as something
to minimize. Companies rarely make it easy for customers to make
inquiries, submit suggestions, or lodge complaints. They see providing
service as a duty and an overhead, not as an opportunity and a
marketing tool.
Every business is a service business. You are not a chemical
company. You are a chemical services business. Theodore Levitt
said: “There is no such things as service industries. There are only industries whose service components are greater or less
than those of other industries. Everybody is in service.”
“Businesses planned for service are apt to succeed; businesses
planned for profit are apt to fail,” observed American educator
Nicholas Murray Butler.
What service level should a company deliver? Good service is
not enough. Nobody talks about good service. Sam Walton,
founder of Wal-Mart, set a higher goal: “Our goal as a company
is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.”
The three Fs of service marketing are be fast, flexible,
and friendly.
What is poor service? There are stories that tell of a hotel in
Spain that advertises that it will accept service complaints at the front
desk only from 9 to 11 A.M. each day. And there is a store in England
whose sign reads, “We offer quality, service, and low price. Choose
any two.”
There are two ways to get a service reputation: One is to be the
best at service; the other is to be the worst at service.
Ellsworth Statler, who founded the Statler hotels, trained his
people with the dictum: “In all minor discussions between
Statler employees and Statler guests, the employee is dead
wrong.”
You can check on the service quality of your organization by becoming
a customer for a day. Phone your company as if you are a
customer and put some questions to the employee. Go into one of
your stores and try to buy your product. Call about returning a product
or complaining about it and see how the employee handles it.
You are bound to be disappointed.
Check the smile index of your employees. Remember, “A smile
is the shortest distance between two people.” (Victor Borge)