Got a Problem?

One-star Rating - Is this your product or service?

Having worked both in services and product sales for many years, there is a fundamental difference in how customer concerns are addressed, which is evident in the layers of management that are called upon to remedy problems. A concise process is needed in both instances to avoid the high costs of returns or service fixes, which is why modern product retailers preemptively offer a return label in the original package, which reduces phone calls that curb representatives from wrestling with customers on the phone and yet resolve to generate the RMA.

What about services?

For services, it is profoundly different. Every point in the chain of command should be empowered to offer a swift resolution downward to correct a service and a potentially viral customer service situation.

Where that fails is where simple problems make their way up through seniority, inevitably exposing unforced errors, wasting time, and aggravating those involved in the process, which may be 100% visible to the customer. Instead, those closest to the customer should be the focus, offering swift resolution such as a future credit, item repair, redo of the entire service, or even a full refund. Such empowerment means greater customer satisfaction and less one-star ratings for the world to see, while senior executives have more time to engage in more strategic business matters.

So why does this matter in marketing?

With a handle on the resolution process, such activities can be considered to help optimize your marketing campaigns. Next steps and calls-to-action, for example, can easily display which department to engage or call to obtain immediate help. In contrast, providing a link to the company site or landing page to ponder your resolution flow process simply adds layers of satisfaction hurdles that reduce the likelihood a resolution is ever reached.

Besides, the triumphs of how service is being managed can also be marketable, where we typically hear the notion of, “if it’s not right, we’ll make it right,” indicates that those empowered to make quality-of-service decisions are in the right place and are ready to respond.  This mantra affects messaging, printed guides, how-to videos, websites, social media response, and everything in between.  So, if you want to help your marketing efforts, develop a resolution process for all your channels (which also helps your sales team!).

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