http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/your-money/companies-that-get-customer-service-right.html?_r=1&Some excerpts from the above article:
1)
Philips refunded a customer after a bulb the customer bought stopped working after 5 months! Yes, when you back your sales with "Guarantees", you make sure you live up to the promises made. There is nothing more annoying for us as customers when we find out the companies used the "
guarantee tactic" to lure them into a sale. I bet that the customer who got the refund has raved about Philips which got Philips amazing brand publicity and lots of customers.
2)
Human Customer service with follow ups: In the age of automation, I have met venture capitalists who cringe at the mention of human element needed to run a business. We are definitely not there yet, and like it or not, people sometimes like to talk to a business who they paid. It might be pre-sales, support or sometimes just to make sure how much they are going to be charged this month. West Elm in the above article got full points for customer service, talk about customer retention-they won customers for life.
3)
Acknowledgement mistakes made and promptly correcting: We are humans, and everybody knows that, so do customers. Customer appreciate honest business, and they will always appreciate when a business accepts mistake made and does what is needed.
In case you are wondering why customer retention is such a big deal, then please refer to few pictures here
http://keepcustomer.blogspot.com/2013/04/customer-retention-infographic.html
