Posted on October 2, 2008
Customer Service as the New Marketing
BY JAMES CLARK
"My role was just a pleasant accident," Craig Newmark quoted in a recent article with Susan Kuchinskas of iMediaConnection.
The role Craig is talking about is going from founder and growing Craigslist, to being the public face of the company, working with the media and being part of a team of customer service reps.
I personally find this role fascinating and refreshing. What better way to serve your company than to be directly involved in helping solve customer issues or responding to customer inquiries.
Imagine the insights and knowledge he gains from personally interacting with the customer.
Which begs the question: Why do so many companies look at customer service as a necessary evil?
Answer: EGO
The people best suited to handle the vast array of customer service issues are not people manning phone banks in India. It's high-level management with a true and deep understanding of the products and service offerings. But these individuals would need to check their ego at the door to start manning the gates.
I do think there is an opportunity in elevating conversational customer reps, those individuals responsible for the Twitter and GetSatisfaction pages to be more senior as these individuals will most certainly become a public figure in the company.
I always believed that excellent service is the best marketing method. There is nothing new in that.
BTW this blog just became my top social media resource