Customer Service is a Process

How are your customer service processes?

• Do you check them?
• Do you test them?
• Do you have 3rd parties check them

A good customer service process can make a difference in so many ways.

• Customer Retention
• Customer Referrals
• Customer Re-Purchases

Why I am Specialized and not Vittoria

Recently I had an amazing customer service experience with Specialized. The bicycle and gear manufacturer. That same week I had a very different experience with Vittoria.

The experience was simple by design, nature, and execution.

In both cases I had one of their products fail after a relatively short use time. Much shorter than what should be reasonably expected. In the case of Vittoria I had a trainer tire fail after less than 200 miles of use. In the case of Specialized I had a rechargeable light fail after a few uses.

In both cases I contacted customer service:

• Specialized responded right away and said they had heard of this issue (empathy) and that they would replace the light (6 diamond customer service)
• Vittoria also responded right away and said ... contact your reseller.
• Notice the difference?

Would you rather be Ritz Carlton level ... or less?

The Ritz Carlton Hotels are famous for their exemplary customer service. Employees are allowed and encouraged  to delight the customer. ANY EMPLOYEE is allowed to delight the customer. Read that again ... ANY EMPLOYEE. If someone sees something wrong ... they are empowered to fix it.

How does this related to my Specialized and Vittoria experience?

It's simple. One delighted me and the other didn't. 

Does this mean Vittoria's process is bad?

No. It just means that they have a process that they follow very closely. Perhaps too closely. But, that's a business decision that Vittoria needs to make.

Note: I have NO qualms with Vittoria. 

Also, if you are wondering ... Why didn't I buy a Specialized trainer tire? 

The answer is simple. As far as I know ... they don't make one. 

Channels Matter

• Both Specialized and Vittoria sell thru distributors.
• Both Specialized and Vittoria have customer service processes
• Both Specialized and Vittoria get to decide how much they'd like to delight customers

In this case ... Specialized won.

• Will they get my repeat business. Yes!
• Will they get good customer references from me? Yes! (obviously)
• Will the repeat this with other customers? They probably do every day. 

In defense of Vittoria. They get to choose how they run their business. That's not for me to define. Did it hurt their prospects of my business in the future? Yes. Will it be a material impact on their business? I doubt it.

• Am I against Vittoria? No. I think they make great tires.
• Will I look for Vittoria tires in the future? Probably not.
• What could Vittoria have done differently? This is something I've asked myself a few times. 

Customer Service Matters. 

Doing it right is hard.

Doing it right is expensive.

Doing it consistently is both hard and expensive.

But, the cost can be worth it. Delighted customers come back ... again and again.

And, they tell their friends.