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$4 Million Complaint Call!

*** Foreword ***

“Customer is not a moron. She is your wife” – David Ogilvy

Customer service is not a department any more. It’s an attitude, which will eventually define your enterprise success. If handled well, it can self-propagate your brand, which will convert your customers into your free publicists.

Cementing this belief is the famous blog post from Ron Burley (@consumerrebel) who is a serial entrepreneur. He shares how ‘out of the box’ customer service got them their biggest client. This post was originally posted here.

***

In business, we’re often all about the numbers–occasionally to a fault. I’m not saying statistics and metrics aren’t useful tools. Sometimes, however, the success or failure of an enterprise comes down to individual interaction–say, a handshake or a phone call.

Let me give you a good example.

In 1995, I bootstrapped a tech company, Broadcast Software. We created digital audio and automation software for broadcast radio stations. After four years, we had 16 employees and customers in 40 countries.

But we were at a transition point. If companies need to grow or die, we were in need of a transfusion. We had grown beyond my ability to fund future growth out of my back pocket, and it was time to get outside capital. It also turned out to be time for the tech bubble to burst. Our potential funding sources instantly disappeared.

I was a hands-on CEO. I had written the original code and knew many of our customers personally. I had told my employees that the buck stopped with me, that I’d be willing to speak with any customer they couldn’t help or satisfy. If need be, they should even give out my personal number.

Challenging Customer

So when my cell phone vibrated at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning, I recognized the 618 area as Southern Illinois. That meant the caller was Bob, a crusty old-time radio engineer and owner of a very small rural radio station near Mt. Vernon. He’d purchased one of our systems several months before and had been struggling to get it up and running.

Bob’s biggest problem was that he’d never even used a computer before. My support manager more than once had recommended that we just refund Bob’s money. But we’d marketed our products as easy to use, so we couldn’t abandon someone because they’d found otherwise.

I climbed out of bed, closed the door behind me, and spent the next two hours coaching Bob on how to configure the start-up options for Microsoft Windows. It wasn’t an issue with our software, but it was a problem for our customer, Bob–which made it our problem. At the end of the conversation, I thought we’d made a lot of progress. Bob was enthusiastic. I was hopeful.

That was the last anyone heard from Bob. He didn’t call tech support. He didn’t call me. As time passed, I wondered whether we’d actually fixed the problem or whether he’d just given up. I made a mental note to check in on him as soon as I’d figured out the bigger financial issues.

Surprise Windfall

One situation was about to solve the other. Almost six months to the day after I’d hung up the phone with Bob, I received another call. The chief of engineering of a major media company informed me the company had decided to standardize on our software across its entire chain of more than 300 radio stations. It would be the biggest order in our history–more than $4 million–and would easily provide the capital we’d been needing.

The call was a complete surprise. We’d not pursued their business. In fact, it had been public knowledge that they were selecting one of our competitors. As it turned out, the reason for their mid-course change was … Bob.

That phone call with Bob saved our company. He hadn’t given up on us; he loved us. Shortly after my call with him, the same media giant made an offer he couldn’t refuse to purchase his radio station, and Bob had stayed on as a consulting engineer.

An Internal Champion

Not long after, a company meeting centered on their intentions to purchase our competitors’ products. Bob had raised his hand at the back of the room: “Have you ever heard of Broadcast Software?” he asked. He told his new colleagues the story of our phone call, and how we’d stuck with him for months even when the problems weren’t really ours. Over lunch, and then dinner, Bob sang our praises. At the end of the evening, he scribbled our website and contact info on cocktail napkin and handed it to the chief of engineering. “Check these guys out,” he said. “They’re great.”

They did, and the rest was history. Our history.

There’s a moral to the story: Every customer needs to be treated with respect, and no customer should be left dissatisfied. I’m not saying that every customer call is crucially important. But some of them certainly are–and you never know which one might be your “Bob.”

 

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  1. Hi Sasikanth

      Welcome .  well from my mind…i can say its like thinking more and doing less wont work out. because success comes from serial failures until luck is with you all times.. 

    my strategy is simple..before coming into my brothers venture, i don’t know about procurement, supplier relations, logistics this and that and every thing

    i started doing every thing.. seriously  i used to fail in some areas like maintaining supplier relations, supply chain management that really effects the production. search for new suppliers.. some used to even scold like we dont want to do business with you but still y you people call us  like that

    finally after 3 years i came to know few things and that i want to share with you.. and these might work even in ecommerce because i am purely into procurement, processing and logistics

    1) do your best and practical.. think less and act more.. you experience a lot of  new things every day

    2) maintain a notebook and make sure you had track on each and every task.. some tasks can complete in day and some take days

    3) you face failure at every step. but be bold and carry on with your hard work.. remember TIME solves every thing and to get every thing it takes TIME

    4) Control Money Flow… really helps you to invest money on only imp things. even to list out the imp things  it takes TIME. so invest wisely 

    5) Customer is king. concentrate on your customer views, reviews, or what ever. because they are the one who give you Life

    Thanks

    Sai

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