Great customer service is critical to successful brand experience planning

Here is a useful no nonsense list of things customer service teams should be doing to keep consumers happy [See full details at Customer Service Tips and Perspectives]

1. Answer the phone
2. Listen to your customers
3. Focus on the positive
4. Handle customer complaints effectively
5. Keep your promises
6. Train your staff
7. Be helpful and kind, even when there is not an immediate profit in it
8. Let customers know you appreciate them
9. Go the extra mile
10. Ask if there is anything else you can do

The first 6 points are the basics if you want to get consumers to buy again.

But for me points 7 -10 are key if you want to delight consumers so that they not only buy again abut maybe even talk about your brand. (The power of that kind of advocacy is well recognised.)

I talk about this alot. Brand teams should be working with the whole organsiation delivering brand experiences that:

• Make relevant brand promises to the consumer (generally via marketing).
• Deliver theses promises both in-store and then every time the brand is used/consumed.
• Delight the consumers. This magical bit that great customer service adds.

Try it. Seat down with the right people in your organistion and think about how the brand experiences you are delivering and how they can be improved. It might be helpful to use this approach to help.

It should be your first step to a very successful future.