Monday, March 19, 2007

Customer service is king in Charleston

I just spent a week in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. I had ample time there to wander around Charleston and in and out of the shops and restaurants. One thing that struck me is the extreme friendliness of the people who served us.

The shop owners, the waitstaff and even the tour guides went that extra mile to learn a little bit about me and why I was in Charleston. They recommended sites to see, good restaurants and in short tried to make me feel important. At one restaurant when we asked about a particular dish, the waiter recommended a competitor's dish over her restaurant's version. When was the last time you recommended a competitor?

Customer service seems like a lost art to me and lately I've been frustrated plenty with poor service I've received. I have little control over my customer experience in a store or with a company; what I do have control over is where I open my wallet!

It pays to nurture your customers. Just one bad service experience may mean you not only lose that customer, but that madder-than-a-wet-hen customer spreads his or her service experience to many, many others, often years after the experience.

Stepping into Charleston reaffirmed my belief that customer service is still king.

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