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| Author: Zack TaylorIn Uncertain Times, Do Certain Things

The events in the financial markets these last few days certainly bring to mind one metaphor – a rollercoaster – as actions by the US Federal Reserve and other global entities target the current volatility.

Still, the uncertainties of the current financial markets provide an excellent opportunity to focus on the certainties we do know.

Conditions like these frequently result in a “hunkering down effect,” and a focus shift toward cost and efficiency that can overtake the top-line aspirations of a company’s business cycle. It’s clear that there are only two routes to a better bottom line – reducing costs or improving customer satisfaction and retention. Or even better, a combination of both.

A widely accepted constant is the value of the retained customer. And these days, a positive customer experience is considered the more powerful indicator of customer retention. The confluence of the current externalities, the rise of social networks, and numerous technology innovations make it an opportune time to take the counter-strategy of "leaning into the wave." Invest in an improved customer experience, and you just might emerge with a better bottom line than ever.

Posted by Zack Taylor at 17:57 on Jan 25, 2008
James Ransdall said...
Posted at 17:43 on Mar 25, 2008

I found this by searching on managing innovation in uncertain times and certainly, in these uncertain times, innovations in customer service must be a fornt-and-center topic. Presumably, the "hunker down" mentality will start to set in and, often unwisely, companies will be tempted to resort to price competition. Against this, high quality customer care, will serve as a barrier to exit.

An example: I recently have had a billing problem with one of my credit cards. In calling in, I found that there was no option to speak with a representative, so I selected the "I want to close my account" option, which predictably yielded a human, who did resolve my issue. When I asked her about the difficulty I had reaching someone, she told me that well over half those reaching her had selected the close account option exactly as I had done. She was, in fact, every bit as frustrated as I was.

That sort of experience is not the way to keep a customer, especially in uncertain times.

Zack Taylor said...
Posted at 10:26 on Mar 31, 2008

Appreciate your comments. I was thinking about them in context and took a look at the last several lists of "Customer Service Champs" that Business Week puts out. A quick glance shows some names that, at times, have had their struggles over the years at specific points. But apparently, never so much as to force them to de-invest in improving servicing elements in their business - a real tribute to the notion of the never changing value of servicing customers well, despite external circumstances.


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