Consumer Affairs: Just how important is customer service?

It goes without saying that businesses can get more new customers by taking good care of their existing ones. This is especially true these days with the constant growth of the Internet and the ever expanding social networks. People are more connected than ever and they will make their voices heard in a multitude of ways. 

What customers say about a business can either be very valuable or very costly. If a business is looking to grow and acquire new customers or even if they are just trying to stay in business during this rough economy, good customer service may not be the answer — outstanding customer service is.

We at Consumer Affairs get numerous calls from consumers who have experienced some sort of questionable customer service. It varies from issues of poor customer facing skills to customer service that is just really, really bad.

Our advice to consumers who have had a bad customer service experience is to contact the manager or owner of the business and make your complaint known. Our Consumer Affairs website has a section on complaining that details the various steps on how to effectively do this.

Making complaints to managers and owners of businesses provides valuable insight on how they are doing. As a business owner, this information should be welcomed and should be used to ensure that their customers are being well taken care of.

Businesses that value their customers will welcome the opportunity to deal directly with a customer’s complaint. Those businesses that do not attempt to deal with complaints run the risk of losing a customer who will undoubtedly tell others about their bad experience.

It is interesting to note that we do get calls from consumers who prefer not to lodge a complaint to a company directly, believing that ‘nothing will happen’. However, it is important to remember that a complaining customer can have an impact on customer service. Businesses are in business to make money; they rely on the consumer to purchase their goods and services and to recommend their business to potentially new customers. 

For businesses, one of the best ways to stand out from the completion is to offer the best customer service experience possible so that customers spread the news and help to attract new customers. 

Consumers should not be afraid to complain to a business about any bad customer service experience they have and equally they should give praise when praise is due, both are welcomed.

Customer service is a key aspect of any business transaction. It should not be ignored, it should be part of every businesses marketing strategy. 

Before contacting Consumer Affairs with a question, visit our web-site, www.ca.gov.bm and read the relevant advice. If you can’t find the information on our web-site please e-mail us at [email protected]. Honey Adams Bell is the education officer for Consumer Affairs.