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In today’s market, the customer is King. Gone are the days of ‘caveat emptor’. Let the buyer beware! In very early times, the seller could do pretty much what he pleased. Monopolistic practices and unfair trading and pricing systems were the way they did business back then. The world has come a long way from then. Today businesses, big and small, fall all over themselves to provide top of the line service to their customers. Today’s customers are a pampered lot. Deals, discounts, money back offers, freebies, you name it, they have it. Everybody wants to pamper you, the customer, as much as they can. So how did it change from ‘Listen buddy, this is what it is. Take it or leave it!’ to ‘If you are not satisfied with this product, Sir, you can return it within X days, for a full refund, no questions asked’? One of the main reasons is competition. In every field, there are simply hundreds of businesses, vying for a share of the market. The Government has passed laws and rules to protect the consumer from bad products, ensure fairness in trading and pricing, etc. There are also laws for the field of health and medicine, telecommunications, and so on. Another main reason is that today’s customer is better informed regarding his rights. Several corporations have felt the wrath of the wronged customer in the form of lawsuits which ran into millions of dollars. And, it’s basic human psychology. We all like to be pampered, and feel special. So naturally, customers will always look at the customer service policy of companies before making a purchase. Good customer service is not only about enticing the customer with smiles and gifts and luring a purchaser. Today customer service means a going that extra mile to ensure that the customer keeps coming back to you every time. According to Efraim Turban (Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective) ‘Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation’. Customer Service begins with the sale: giving the customer the correct and proper information regarding the product and conducting a demo if required. After sales service involves: handling any queries relating to its functioning; addressing complaints; and replacing defective merchandise. Most big retailers have a dedicated counter to handle these problems faced by customers. More than the quality of the actual product, it’s often the quality of service that a customer gets that gives them a perception of the business organization they are dealing with. No one ever said that dealing with irate or even mildly unhappy customers was easy. Not even close. It’s hard to reason with anyone who thinks they have been ripped off their hard earned money. And so, employees assigned to deal with customer complaints need to be patient and adapt to the different moods of their customers. In today’s highly electronic-ized world, customer support is often automated. I’m sure many of you have experienced this, especially when your program or software crashes, and you are directed to a website with a list of possible solutions; usually ending with ‘Was this solution helpful? As for me, I prefer to hear a living person at the other end of the phone line. Call me old fashioned if you will, but it’s simply more reassuring. Someone is actually listening! Perhaps no type of customer support is as important as tech support, in this age of i-everythings and tabs and notes. My phone is definitely smarter than me. For when it goes on the fritz, I am in shutdown mode. It’s time to panic, for I’m totally at a loss how to get it working again. Technical support though, is not only fixing your devices when down. Installation, virus clean up, setup of new phones, tune up services for your computer and accessories: all these come under its ambit. So even if you love to flash your smartphones but don’t have a clue about its internal working, you can remain stress free. Just sign up for a good tech help site/company. Mitchell winston likes to write on sports and technology. Please click here for further more information regarding the offers and bundle deals available in your area!
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