I recently had converted my home form cable TV to satellite. I decided to go with the non-market leader responding to a promotion. I did not really have high expectations since I was really price shopping and was prepared to put up with a little inconvenience.
To my pleasant surpise, the intake process on the phone was smooth and very professional. The customer service rep did not try to over sell me. The service commitments and pricing was clearly outlined and the whole process went well.
On install day, a very competent installer (subcontractor) showed up at my door on time, in the rain and addressed all my niave questions about satellite television.
By contrast, about a year ago I tried the dominant market provider in the satellite TV market as part of a bundled deal with the local telephone company. The service never worked properly and after repeated visits by the service technician and failure to resolve the problems, I told the provider to remove the service. Service removal was soon followed by a series of harrassing calls form both the provider and the telephone company trying to hold me hostage to the service commitment. I repeatedly explained the problems to mulitple parties in both organizations without success and they still insisted that only after one week of service I was responsible for the early termination of service penalty. To add insult to injury, the telephone company impunned my personal credit for late payment of the penalty which I finally paid to end the matter.
The lesson to small business owners is simple. Good, fair and equitable treatment of customers builds loyalty, a customer franchise and the potential for referrals from customers who like what you do and how you do it.
Please let me know of good and not so good customer service situations that you have experienced as a consumer and how they affected your buying behavior.
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