A lot of people think Toyota has a quality problem these days. But I would say their biggest problem is a customer service one.

Let’s look at the basics. Customer service is all about giving customers the right experience. Do this and they’ll remain loyal. Fail at this and they’ll leave you faster than you can say “cancel my order”.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

You are the company

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

No matter what your role is, when you help a customer, in their eyes you are the company. What you do and how you do it becomes your company’s image, to the customers you serve.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

You are your company’s brand

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

People do business with companies for a variety of reasons. One reason is the company’s brand or reputation. This is more than a logo or slogan. It’s what people think of a company and how they feel about it. Your brand will either attract customers or repel them.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day.

-Jeffrey Gitomer

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

I think our desire for instant results has gone too far.  And technology keeps pushing this trend faster and faster. This is great for some applications. Speed can be the difference between life and death in some situations.

A friend shared his recent experience with his bank.

A  few days ago, he had made a bunch of deposits.  He also had a plethora of checks coming out of his account. Because of the volume of checks, he was concerned that his account would go negative if the bank posted the checks first and the deposits later.

He was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bank actually credited his deposits first and then posted the checks. By doing it this way, his balance remained positive and he had no ugly fees due to overdrafts.  He was so surprised and pleased, he had to tell someone.  So he called me.

Too often we expect the companies we deal with to take advantage of us. And just as often such expectations are fulfilled. We’ve been conditioned to expect business people to act in their own interests first, and consider their customer needs later, if at all. The evidence of this is everywhere.