Customer service: A winning platform

The U.S. economy is still sputtering, but fortunately there is a solution that is guaranteed to turn things around. It is not a solution that depends on any political movement, party or candidate. It’s a solution we must implement in the marketplace, one customer at a time. Here’s how it works:

• When you treat customers right, they come back and they tell others.
• When other people learn how good you are, they become customers, too.
• Keep repeating the process, gaining new customers and treating them right.
• Eventually, with the increase in customers, your company will have to hire more people.
• When more people have jobs, more people spend money, and the economy gets stronger.

That’s the power of customer service. Just treat the customer right and, yes, you can help save the U.S. economy. Various studies help explain how it works:

• Repeat customers spend 33 percent more than new customers.
• A 10-percent increase in customer retention levels can result in a 30-percent increase in the value of a company.
• Dissatisfied customers whose complaints are addressed are more likely to remain loyal than other customers.
• Companies with the highest level of customer satisfaction achieve the strongest sales growth, while those with low customer satisfaction suffer declining sales.
• Two-thirds of customers say they are willing to spend more with a company that provides excellent customer service.

Think of the impact a loyal customer brings to the bottom line of your business. Loyalty is an opportunity to grow your business—and the U.S. economy.

Let’s end with a quote from James C. Penney, the legendary founder of the J.C. Penney stores:

“It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value the most.”