Is this possible? To annoy your customers, and still have them coming back to purchase from you again and again? For a minute here I am going to play Devil’s Advocate (for non-native English speakers, this means that I am going to take the side of an argument which is less popular). Normally I encourage clients to look at each and every “touch point” that your business has with a customer – and make the customer happy every time. Is this philosophy wrong?

Business books will tell you that customer service needs to be your number one priority. I am going to say that customer service only needs to be your number one priority under one of two circumstances: (a) Your product or service sucks (at least compared to your competition); (b) your main product/service is Customer Service.

Point (a) is going to be a bit of an ego blow for most of us. But this is reality. Let’s see two brief examples of what I mean, one real and one fictional, which illustrate this point.

Great Brands Can Take Customer Service for Granted

Sony has never had a passion for its customers. Sony has always had a passion for its products, for its technologies. Sony never once focused on fulfilling a need – Sony focuses on creating demand. I challenge you to find one Sony invented product on Sony’s website that you cannot live without. So, Sony does not fulfill a need *and* Sony has never had great customer service – so what does this mean, given Sony is one of the most famous brands in the world? Their greatness, their brand, was built upon the value of their products, giving their customers exactly what they wanted – great toys.

Many of you may be fans of the American sitcom Seinfeld (which, funny enough is owned by Sony Pictures). There is a famous episode called the Soup Nazi. One restaurant owner sells soup so good that people wait in long lines to get it. The Soup Nazi is always rude, and even bans people from his restaurant: “No soup for you!!” But yet Jerry and his friends keep fighting to get back in there. The Soup Nazi satisfied a desire like no other- the desire for spectacular food. The brand, communicated by word of mount, was not based on customer service, but on this amazing soup – his value.

The Benefit of Value

What value do you add to your customers that is so overwhelming they will overlook all of your faults to pay you for it? Again and again? Don’t have one? Don’t worry too much about it - yet. Most don’t. But it is not too late to build your brand from value and benefit. The question is – what value, and how do you communicate it?

Scott Minteer
BrandMade - Effective Marketing Innovation
Bangkok, Thailand