What is good customer service worth?
My wife and I decided to get away for the weekend and head over to Half Moon Bay to have some good seafood, see the sites, pick up some pumpkins and simply relax. We decided to splurge and stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay in part because of the tremendous brand reputation of customer service. Ironically, customer service certainly wasn't their strength with a comedy of customer service errors (13 to be exact) that individually could be written off but as a whole was a stunning disappointment. The manager and assistant manager quickly acknowledge the problems as being fault of the staff and were apologetic. The both repeatedly asked what they could do (beyond trying to resolve each individual problem as they arose). This brought to mind the question..."What is good customer service worth?" or put another way "What kind of compensation would mitigate the bad service?". Other questions also factor in..."Should cost of services/goods factor into the equation?", "Should brand reputation be a factor?", "Does the severity or frequency issues factor into it?", etc. These questions however lead to a natural desire to negotiate for the maximum compensation possible.
I however take a different approach. Instead of negotiating, I prefer to let the person know that it isn't up to me to ask for compensation for the trouble but instead up to them to decide what value I am to them as a customer. They need to understand the value of good customer service with the consequence of their decision having a direct impact on whether or not I remain a customer (and tell others). It is my belief that ultimately the payout is far greater in that the company is more likely to make the changes needed to eliminate the service issues in the future. In the case of Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, I genuinely believe that the message was understood and that I will gladly be a customer again. Additionally, although I had insisted that I am not looking for compensation for the issues, they took care of the room charges which was completely unexpected.
I however take a different approach. Instead of negotiating, I prefer to let the person know that it isn't up to me to ask for compensation for the trouble but instead up to them to decide what value I am to them as a customer. They need to understand the value of good customer service with the consequence of their decision having a direct impact on whether or not I remain a customer (and tell others). It is my belief that ultimately the payout is far greater in that the company is more likely to make the changes needed to eliminate the service issues in the future. In the case of Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, I genuinely believe that the message was understood and that I will gladly be a customer again. Additionally, although I had insisted that I am not looking for compensation for the issues, they took care of the room charges which was completely unexpected.
as they should have. the reason you booked with them was based on their reputation, and they did not deliver. a truly smart move would have been to pay for your stay and give you a voucher for another saturday night so you could see how great they are when they're on their game.
good lord. 13 errors. i would have been ballistic... ;-\
Posted by terry mckenzie on October 08, 2007 at 01:41 PM PDT #