Many companies today follow the timeless Pareto Analysis
where they believe that 80% of their business comes from 20% of their
customers. On the basis of this, companies have become myopic in the way they
hand out service to their customers. By providing differential service to their
profitable customers they are possibly creating a very dangerous divide. There
is no doubt that treating profitable customers differently in terms of
incentives makes sense. Loyal customers have to feel the warmth in return. But
customer service should be inclusive and doled out with the same consistency to
every customer. At the end of the day, customer service is not only a hygiene
factor for a business but also a promise made to a customer.
Organisations need to start showing courage in not
distinguishing their customers when it comes to service. The condition has
become endemic because companies are refusing to see the long term ills of such
a move. Bad customer service across industries is the reason for customer
migration. The telecom industry, for example, has made Bedouins of normal
customers with their appalling customer service tactics. Often frustrating,
often numbing, we have reached a point where customers have purely given up on
the idea of good customer service. In an environment such as this, to have
customers know that they are being treated differently can lead to nothing
short of disillusionment.
Many companies especially some in the hospitality industry
are very good at providing indiscriminate customer service. If a customer walks
through their doors for the first time or the tenth, the service remains a
constant because the true potential cannot always be realized in the first few
instances. Over and above, a customer’s potential can be increased in time by
providing consistently exceptional service. However, a brand that is truly in
the business of customer service would never let such a situation ever arise.
Don’t forget that as a company you have no clue what the potential of a customer
is after his first few interaction with you. Differential customer service on
the other hand on the basis of profitability, or a lack of it, can assure you
that you will never see the full potential of that customer.
This is what we think, what do you think?