I don't think any business can survive, not to mention, profitable, if it doesn't have good customer service. The reason is very simple: bad news spreads 10 times faster than good news... particularly in a society where everything is taken for granted, from good security to newspaper which is delivered to our doorstep every morning.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I work part-time at NEC, Sales & Marketing Department. Yes, I know Sales is different from Customer Service, but it doesn't make sense to draw a clear line between them. I find it ridiculous if the Sales personnel think that... my job is to generate Sales and you take care of the customer service aspect of the business.
I came to the front desk to return the keys I borrowed when a customer came to them complaining about table clock which is not working (He brought the clock in the afternoon as a gift for his friend). Everyone knows that giving a clock which is not working is worse than giving nothing at all. Our front desk personnel (who are part-timers, just like me) have done whatever they can to solve the problem, including offering one-to-one exchange, but he didn't quite like the idea. He only likes that particular clock.
I was there and as a guy who claims to be trained in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from top school, I was asked for help. BUT I can't do much. I have never repaired a clock in my whole life and not interested to do it in the near future (I would opt to repair a financial statement instead). In addition to that, I don't think we can repair a clock with bare hand.
Finally I decided to apply my knowledge gained from my Entrepreneurship minor taught at top school, which is "Go the extra mile (s) to help our customer."
I called Swatch at Jurong Point to ask them whether it is possible for them to repair a clock (something that I am sure they are capable of doing, otherwise, why don't they sell mee goreng instead?). They can do it in 5 minutes for $8. I am not sure whether I can claim that to NEC or not, but nevermind, even if I can't claim, losing 8 dollars won't make me poor overnight.
I get the clock repaired (which took less than 2 minutes and cost me $5), and gave it to the customer (he is a visiting professor by the way). I offered to deliver the clock to his house, but he insisted to travel down to our place to take it.
Some things can never be learned from textbooks or middle-aged professors.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I work part-time at NEC, Sales & Marketing Department. Yes, I know Sales is different from Customer Service, but it doesn't make sense to draw a clear line between them. I find it ridiculous if the Sales personnel think that... my job is to generate Sales and you take care of the customer service aspect of the business.
I came to the front desk to return the keys I borrowed when a customer came to them complaining about table clock which is not working (He brought the clock in the afternoon as a gift for his friend). Everyone knows that giving a clock which is not working is worse than giving nothing at all. Our front desk personnel (who are part-timers, just like me) have done whatever they can to solve the problem, including offering one-to-one exchange, but he didn't quite like the idea. He only likes that particular clock.
I was there and as a guy who claims to be trained in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from top school, I was asked for help. BUT I can't do much. I have never repaired a clock in my whole life and not interested to do it in the near future (I would opt to repair a financial statement instead). In addition to that, I don't think we can repair a clock with bare hand.
Finally I decided to apply my knowledge gained from my Entrepreneurship minor taught at top school, which is "Go the extra mile (s) to help our customer."
I called Swatch at Jurong Point to ask them whether it is possible for them to repair a clock (something that I am sure they are capable of doing, otherwise, why don't they sell mee goreng instead?). They can do it in 5 minutes for $8. I am not sure whether I can claim that to NEC or not, but nevermind, even if I can't claim, losing 8 dollars won't make me poor overnight.
I get the clock repaired (which took less than 2 minutes and cost me $5), and gave it to the customer (he is a visiting professor by the way). I offered to deliver the clock to his house, but he insisted to travel down to our place to take it.
Some things can never be learned from textbooks or middle-aged professors.
