Warning: Improve Customer Service—Or Else

Companies can't afford to lose consumers, so customer service is more important than ever. If buyers are treated badly, they'll go elsewhere

By Ed Wallace

In 1982, In Search of Excellence by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. was the right book with the right message and at the right time: It told of companies that had done exceptionally well during a substantial downturn in the American economy. The simple and eloquent message was that certain firms can outperform the market no matter what the economic conditions, because their primary motivation is consumer satisfaction superior to any other competitor's. Then again, that was 27 years ago.

Earlier this year in a column for BusinessWeek, I suggested that the real underlying problem with the economy was the fact that the baby boomers had not just locked up their spending, but were reconsidering their past impulse purchases. They weren't just reducing debt, they were also re-evaluating the types of products they would buy in the future—everything from luxury cars to their homes. Because it is becoming harder than ever to separate customers from their dollars, customer care and the buying experience are more important than ever. The problem is that, at least if my experiences this year are anything to go by, that experience is so unrewarding that I, and many other consumers, may keep right on sitting on our wallets.

How many individuals are out there trying to spend their money, but the sales process is such an obstacle that they're holding back? I'm not a demanding buyer. I've been a salesman and know how tough it is. A top-flight salesperson can usually show me and sell me just what I really need, but I'm fairly happy with just an average salesperson; as long as the experience is not negative, it works for me. Yes, that's a very low standard. Yet even so, my purchasing experiences in 2009 would never serve as a shining example of customer care.

And I can't believe I'm alone. So I thought it would be a good idea to write down a few of my experiences, some are even pretty humorous, to see if readers have had the same problems as I had. But the primary audience I am writing for is the companies themselves. Attention CEOs: Now, more than ever you can't afford to let sloppiness, misinformation, or poor service cost you any more customers.

And I'm not talking about Manny's Discount Hut. I am referring to big companies such as Apple (AAPL), AT&T (T), and Lowe's (LOW).

Example No. 1: The manager in the men's department at the Dillard's (DDS) store in Fort Worth could not have been nicer. Yes, sales were down but so were the prices on Polo Ralph Lauren shirts. (Yes, America, there are bargains everywhere today) There was one color I was interested in, but the store didn't have it in my size. He apologized profusely for the lack of inventory. Later at another Dillard's, the shirt was again not available in my size in that particular color. Only this time the salesperson offered to look it up in the store's computer system and ship the shirt directly to me. Now, that's real customer service, so I paid for a number of shirts—and to this day they have never shown up. This marks twice that I've had this experience with Dillard's; to date I'm out $780 with nothing to show for it.

Lesson Learned: It's easy enough to order these shirts from Ralph Lauren directly online and receive the merchandise in just two days.

My next bad experience came at the hands of the phone company. I know this may come as no surprise to millions of Americans but I offer it up as a cautionary tale anyway.

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