Among various benefits internet offers to its users, “Voice of the customer†is one of the most powerful tools. The notion “Customer is the King†is absolute reality in the internet age. Let me share a recent real life incident in which I personally experienced the power of being online.
Last year I bought a new Apple MacBook and I was very happy & excited when I started using it. Unfortunately, I faced multiple breakdowns – first battery crash, then data crash followed by hard disk failure. Even worse, I received horrible customer service from Apple’s service center in Delhi. More than the valuable data, I lost precious time fighting with Apple India. But they were reluctant to hear. Being an Online Marketing training provider, I thought of taking a different approach – instead of me going after them (push), let me create a pull towards me.
I authentically shared my experience of Apple MacBook and Apple India’s service at:
– Apple Sucks (MouthShut)
– Apple Sucks (CNet Reviews)
As expected, I got a call from them. They apologized for my experience and offered me a brand new and the next version of the laptop as the compensation. Although I didn’t want to but I finally accepted their request. Looking at the comments, view/read stats and the popularity of the above mentioned sites, I am sure that Apple paid a heavy price for the mistake of not listening to their customer. Since I’d given my email id in the review, I am receiving mails from people asking for my advice on whether they should buy Apple machine. Virtually, I am driving (or preventing) a part (however small it is) of their sales.
What lessons did I learn (equally applicable for you) from this experience?
1. My voice matters – As a customer, I am much more powerful today than ever before. I can and should demand the respect and service I expect from my vendors.
2. Customer is the king – As a business owner, I can’t ignore the voice of my customer or I will pay a very high price. Given the networked world (socially and professionally) today, it pays to be honest.
I can correlate this strongly to my previous venture in which we used to serve IT professionals who were strongly connected to each other through various discussion forums relevant to our services. Occasionally (especially in the very beginning of our venture), some people would say negative about our product/service. Instead of taking that as a feedback and an opportunity to grow, we used to defend ourselves by giving counter response. Till the moment we acknowledged our mistake, the problem would only grow. The moment my customer got the experience of being listened to, the discussion will end.
The same happened in this experience with Apple. The moment they called me I stopped thrashing them and when they again faltered I went out against them. This idea of writing a blog post about my experience serves two purposes – first, sharing the lessons I learnt with you and second, making Apple India realize the importance of customer service.
3. Pull always works better than Push – Whether you are selling or buying a product/service, pull always beat push. In the online world, pull is not only more effective but also more feasible.
I hope you find this experience valuable. Please do give your inputs and feel free to share any such experience you might have had in the past.
You may also want to check these 2 interesting experiences of Online Reputation Management (ORM):
a.) Ola Cabs Case Study
b.) Toyota Altis Review
- The Future of Search (Wall Street Journal) - October 6, 2010
- The ‘Cost’ of Facebook Marketing (Wall Street Journal) - July 15, 2010
- Tracking Your Company Facebook Page (Wall Street Journal) - July 9, 2010
In my company “client first” value has gone a bit too much. Some team members use it as a tool to escape from their other responsibilities in the organization which they are supposed to equally prioritize.
One question has always bothered me – Which one needs to be prioritised- The external customer who pays for your service or internal customer (read employees) who delivers the service? (I am talking about a service business)
Any help?
U knw what i am also planning to buy a MacBook & just reading your review only on Mouthshut.com then i just saw this post..
strange coincidence…& by d way you are right…
I also followed a similar way while dealing with my teleco Idea..
Dey themselves called me up & compensated for the problems faced by me..
U r right,..
Pull is always better than Push..
I call it the power of *networked markets*. Brands should communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.
For good effect, blog slams should read like “Don’t worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it’s not the only thing on your mind. If you don’t impress us, your investors are going to take a bath.†That should put many a butts in the line of fire.
Soon I hope to see the boring “voice” of business – the empty mission statements and pointless brochures – on its way out.
I love MouthShut’s business model. 1st they created a community of opinions; now they charge brands/companies a fee for tracking everything being said about them !
Very well said. I had a similar experience. Two years back, a
hotel in Delhi treated
me very badly — no pickup from airport as promised; also they
moved me to a different hotel even though I had a confirmed booking,
and finally I had a literal fight with some of the hotel guys on some
flimsy reason. I couldnt do much then, but came back to Bangalore
and did a post on tripadvisor.com
Not just did I get emails from other potential customers, but the
owner of the hotel called me and apologized and said that my post
had diminished their business. He offered me a free room next time
I came to Delhi.
So, I agree with you completely.
I guess there is a lesson for entreprenuers in this, that customer
support, rather delight, is crucial!
regards,
Samir