Think about the last good experience you've had with a brand.
Easter morning brought baskets full of Godiva chocolate. {The bunny knows mama doesn't mess around when it comes to her candy!} The chocolate was not the Godiva I knew. I suspected perhaps there were some handling issues {likely outside of the company's control} at play here. So I phoned the company. I let them know that I had received some less-than-Godivaey candy. I supplied him with the numbers, dates etc... The representative was pleasant and issued an apology that felt sincere and not at all canned. I felt that I did the right thing in giving them the chance to track down the handling issue and I got an apology. It likely was not even their fault, but they apologized. I felt valued and like I had done the right thing. To my surprise, a beautiful box of Godiva chocolate landed on my door in an ice packed cooler sent via overnight mail the next day. And it was perfect.
I submitted some of my drawings to be considered for rubber stamp designs to Plaid Crafts a few years ago. I received a personal thank you note to let me know they had arrived and were being reviewed. A couple of weeks later I received a package in the mail with a politely worded rejection letter. They said that my stamp had made it to the final round of reviews but was too close in style to another line they planned to launch later that season and that they would be unable to produce it for that reason. Disappointed? Sure! But I understood, of course. Inside the package was a huge set of all of the colors of their beautiful paint that you could imagine and a note tucked inside that read: 'keep creating'. To this day I will never forget the way their brand made me feel. And now, when I think of craft supplies I think of Plaid. I recommend them to people. I sing their praises. And all because of an excellent experience I had with their brand. It probably cost them $40 (their cost) and I can guarantee they have made their money back multiple times over between my purchases and the purchases of those I have referred to them. Win. Win.
(The drawing at the top is the design I had submitted. It's now being sold as greeting cards instead!)
Of course, the reverse is true, as well. I have had more than one poor experience with a brand. Doesn't it make you feel taken advantage of when you offer a complaint or suggestion to a brand only to be hastily dismissed? Especially after you've spent years purchasing their products!
The message is: Your opinion doesn't matter to us.
You're replaceable.
Thanks for your business, but we really only want it if you're happy.
Go bother someone else.
What message are you sending through your brand?
'The customer is always right' does not mean that the customer is always right. Even the customer knows this. It means that make things right with the customer if you value them and their business. Are there times when you'll be annoyed to have to take a return? Yup. Do some customers try to take advantage of your kindness? Some do, yes. Are you going to take things personally? I'd be worried if you didn't.
No matter what business I have ever been in, I have welcomed questions and complaints. Often times a complaint is an easily-diffused misunderstanding that you can both chuckle about later. Sometimes it's not. But in either case, it's when there is an issue and the customer does not complain, that I worry. Because chances are...they're complaining. Just not to me, but to others. And that's not the message I want out there. And neither do you!
Melissa Bolton, Aesthetic Wordsmith & Branding Therapist
Thanks for reminding us Melissa that some of our best branding comes through superior customer service.
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