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You Want Fries With That?

December 6, 2007 on 8:04 am | In Technorati, Buzz, Customer Service, Consumer Behavior, Online, PR, Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing |

Some talk percolating in the blogosphere about customer service being the new marketing. PRSquared riffs on it, as does Common Sense PR.

Well, duh. Customer service was the old marketing, too. No matter how much media weight you threw against something, if you didn’t deliver, at the end of the day you were toast.

Now, I understand their points. In today’s socially interconnected digital world, it is harder to get away with a bad product or service for very long. Agreed. But humans haven’t changed in oh, about 200,000 years. We may no longer knock you out with a club due to bad service or bad behavior but we’ll take it out on you some way.

And, no matter what you do, you are in customer service in some way, shape or fashion. Just because you don’t ask directly for the order doesn’t mean you are not serving someone.

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Your “duh” is well-taken.
I think the difference is that, now that 1 person’s complaint can be heard by thousands (who can also take up the cause; share their own grief), it is more imperative that Corp Comms be involved, to make the case that “you can’t get away with bad service” anymore, to members of the penny-pinching C-suite…

Comment by Todd Defren — December 6, 2007 #
Good perspective. I agree with Todd that the ramifications have changed, but with you that the principles haven’t. I think the recent move to talk about it is just smart folks reminding us all that if we lose sight of customer service, we’re screwed.

Comment by Jason Falls — December 6, 2007 #
My definition of customer is everyone you work and come in contact with. What’s yours? In all seriousness, why the need to draw attention to it? Put simply, companies forgot. In the midst of TQM, process/systems management, inside-out thinking, and the flavor of the day leadership, the concept of customer took a back seat. Plus, common sense is not that common

Comment by Valeria Maltoni — December 6, 2007 #
[…] and Todd defren, Brian Solis, Neville Hobson, Susan Getgood, Kami Huyse, Wendy Harman and My Creative Team have posted interesting perspectives on the topic. Share This Related Posts: Nike Helps Customers […]

Pingback by Is Customer Service the New Marketing? Of Course Not! | Gauravonomics Blog — December 6, 2007 #
Is customer service important? Yes. Is customer service more important than ever before? Yes. Is customer service the new marketing? Of course not!

Read my rather contrary post here.

Comment by Gaurav Mishra — December 6, 2007 #

You Want Fries With That?

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