I stumbled upon an article from Forbes about the concept of customer service as the new marketing field. I definitely agree with this. With the internet and social media rapidly expanding, companies must now, more than ever, impress every single customer they provide a good or service to. On the internet, you can easily search a particular product, read reviews about the product, and make a buying decision based on what other people are saying about the product. Whenever I consider making a substantial purchase, I consult the internet to properly judge if I am paying for a quality product. Also, a company's reputation is highly dependent on both the quality of it's product/service and the company's other decisions that involve ethics or the environment. One mistake can end up splattered all over Facebook, and suddenly a huge portion of your customer base is lost. Marketers need to be a part of every step of the product development, because the product's own quality will help to market itself on the internet.
Link to article:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2011/12/28/why-customer-service-is-the-new-marketing/
Kerri
ReplyDeleteI agree, customer service is an important part of the product. With the development and wide use of mobile and computer based technology it is easy for anyone to search, research and compare products. If you choose to go to an actual store to make your purchase one important aspect of your shopping experience is the customer service. Employees that are glad and capable of helping you with your purchase can differentiate that business from others. Even on line shopping has to ensure the customer is happy; availability of the product, ordering procedures, shipping and shipping cost, return policies and even the design of the web site can make or break a sale. With the buying process becoming more impersonal, customer service is more important than ever.