Customer Service: It’s Not Just Good Business, It’s Good Branding

Think customer service doesn’t matter to your business? Think social media doesn’t matter to your business? Think again on both counts. There is not now, nor will there ever be, a more effective form of marketing than word of mouth. It’s the single best way to draw customers to your brand.

But it works the other way too.

Negative word of mouth can hurt your business in the same way that positive word of mouth can help it. So if you’re not providing the best customer service, if you’re not working to keeping your existing customers happy, you’re doing your brand a huge disservice. While the customer may not always be right in your eyes, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to mend, maintain and maybe even strengthen the customer/brand relationship with every exchange.

The world is too connected today.

Social media has given every customer a prominent and immediate platform to raise their voices. If they are using that platform to sing the praises of your business, that’s money in the bank. But if they’re using it to complain about your business, that’s money out the door. Especially if they’re using it to report a bad customer service experience. Nothing riles people up more (and hurts your business more) than hearing these tales.

It’s a lesson too many brands have yet to learn.

Here’s a recent example of a negative customer service response posted on Facebook. Note the likes and shares at the bottom. It’s also important to note that the company mentioned here has not responded to the post. In order for brands to survive and thrive in the modern world, these are the types of comments you need to go out of your way to prevent and address…

Remember, customer service is branding. When you fail at developing and maintaining positive customer relationships, your brand weakens. And as your brand value fades, so do your chances of future success.