Those of you who read The Home Business Review on a regular basis know that I'm not shy about calling out scam artists or those who don't serve their customers well. It always amazes me when companies spend hundreds of dollars (maybe even thousands in some cases) to acquire NEW customers.....then do everything in their power to run them off!
Today I want to give you an example of some GREAT customer service I received and use it as an example of what YOU can do to turn frustrated purchasers into customers for life.
Last Friday, I purchased some online videos from an eBay™ auction run by a guy named Steve. It had a few glitches, which were totally out of his control, but his follow-up and handling of this was simply outstanding. He made me feel like I'd just bought the Hope Diamond instead of a $15 product!
I was immediately reffered to the download page after purchasing. In addition, I received an email:
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Thanking me for the order;
- Providing the download link again;
- Offering to answer any questions about the product
- Offering some FREE downloads
- Suggesting I sign up for his newsletter so I could be kept advised of new items up for sale.
- Asking for feedback and letting me know he had already provided feedback to my account.
Since the follow-up email came so quickly, it could have been an autoresponder, but it was written in a style that seemed very personal.
Here's where Steve went from good to exceptional customer service.
As most of you know, I'm about as computer literate as a slug. So, when I couldn't get the videos to play or download, I emailed Steve.
Want to know what Steve did? READY, SET, GO!!!!!!!
- Sent follow-up email #1 giving me a suggestion to get it to work. (It didn't.)
- Sent follow-up email #2 telling me he was going to the download site and testing it himself.
- Sent follow-up email #3 letting me know he was having the same problem, would contact the site owner and offered three choices including a refund. (It had been less than 90 minutes since I ordered.)
- Sent follow-up email #4 where he copied information from the support forum of the manufacturer. It indicated that the server may temporarly limit the number of people accessing their videos and to try back.
- Sent follow-up email #5 copying me on the letter he sent to the support desk of the manufacturer, verifying that was the issue.
- Sent follow-up email #6 thanking me for my patience, thanking me for my business and sending me a free gift for my patience.
How much did this outstanding customer service cost Steve? Not a dime! A little bit of time to research the issue and write some emails and the offer of a digital download.
But he just set himself apart from the majority of online sellers. And created a lifetime customer. You can bet I'll take a look at whatever he's selling in the future.
What's the value of a lifetime customer to YOU? What can you do TODAY to improve your customer satisfaction?
