• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Jan 21, 2021
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

efile4biz banner
Home / Run and Grow / Customer Service / There’s No Second Chance to Create First Quality
There’s No Second Chance to Create First Quality

There’s No Second Chance to Create First Quality

346 Views

Oct 4, 2017 By Dave Berkus

Let me illustrate this insight with a personal story. As my enterprise computer software company which produced innovative lodging systems for hotels and resorts grew quickly, we found ourselves straining to keep up with the hiring and training of good customer support representatives, a critical part of the equation then and still so today in the 24-hour environment of hotel front desk operations.

If a front desk clerk called support at 11:00 PM in the evening, it usually meant that there were guests lined up waiting to check in, anxious to pass beyond this necessary but inconvenient bottleneck between a tiring plane ride and a comfortable bed. The result would be very frustrated clerks facing angry guests if the wait was too long. It was simply not acceptable to be backed up in customer service, forcing either a ten-minute wait or a call back from support.

It took several months to hire and train enough new support reps to keep up with the rapid growth of our company. But the problem was solved, and response times returned to “immediate” for at least this class of customer call. There was no wait, and the quality of response was rated as “excellent” by callers later surveyed.

But “There’s the rub” (the snag) wrote Shakespeare in Hamlet. It took two long years for the company to fully recover its lost reputation after the actual problem was fixed to the satisfaction of all. Aided by salespeople from competitors and long memories from unhappy customers, the myth of continued quality problems in customer support bounced around the industry for those years, until finally good press, great experiences and an effective marketing campaign together overwhelmed bad memories to put this issue to bed.

If the problems had been in product stability and customer service together at the same moment, there might not have been enough time and resources to recover. There are plenty of young companies that died trying to recover from such a combination.

Your reputation hinges upon delivering a quality product at the moment of release, and maintaining product quality throughout its life. The smaller the company, the more is at stake. There are fewer resources and much less of a reserve of good will among the customer base to absorb a problem release – or in the example above, inability to fill the void in customer service created by rapid growth.

Filed Under: Customer Service Tagged With: Customer Service, Reputation, Solving Problems

Source: Berkonomics

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus is a noted speaker, author and early stage private equity investor. He is acknowledged as one of the most active angel investors in the country, having made and actively participated in over 87 technology investments during the past decade. He currently manages two angel VC funds (Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC and Kodiak Ventures, L.P.) Dave is past Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel networks in the United States. Dave is author of “Basic Berkonomics,” “Berkonomics,” “Advanced Berkonomics,” “Extending the Runway,” and the Small Business Success Collection. Find out more at Berkus.com or contact Dave at dberkus@berkus.com

Related Posts

  • These 5 Issues Can Bring Business to a Grinding Halt
  • 3 Main Differences Between Customer Service & Customer Support
  • 10 Tips On Selling Yourself As Well As Your Startup

Primary Sidebar

efile4biz banner

Random

5 Tips for When You’re Feeling Uninspired

Mar 10, 2017 By Fora Financial

How Dropshipping Can Help Your Business Succeed

Dec 4, 2018 By Albert Macklin

5 Smart Ways to Make Your Fashion Blog Trend

Jan 27, 2017 By SmallBizClub Contributor

Franchising: The Advantages and Drawbacks

Oct 28, 2013 By FranchiseSales

Do You Rush Things?

Feb 14, 2017 By Drew McLellan

efile4biz banner

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy