Elightened service - Wining a customer for life!

I have written previously that service as a discipline appears to be under seige. Airlines charging for a checked bag, and considering charges for carry-ons or using the toilet on board, are all signs of this trend. The race is on to penny-pinch the most valuable asset of any business, it's customers.

Like me, you have probably taken your car to a repair shop or dealer to have something small fixed, only to be told of the myriad of other things wrong. And many of the repairs sound dire, as if you should not dare get back in your car, for the mortal danger you will face. After one repair shop suggested replacing my windshield wipers, one week after they had been replaced and were in perfect condition, it became evident that some of these recommendations were commercially motivated, and not intended to save my life, or what I really needed. Have a few of these experiences, and you begin to question every piece of advice or service interaction. Are they really thinking about what is best for you?

A recent experience though, has restored my faith in enlightened management and service approach to customers. Some companies really do get it, and they are carving out massive equity with their customers.

I took a trip to Dubai recently. When we landed and I took my Tumi bag out of the overhead, the handle fell off. On my return home, I took some photographs and sent a note one evening, around 9pm, to the folks at Tumi. By 11am the next day I had a reply from the Director of Marketing. Mikal had looked up where I lived, where their stores and service center were in relation, and laid out three options for me to have my bag sent to be repaired. It would be my choice of what was most convenient for me! My bag was shipped to the Tumi service center, and I had several very pleasant conversations with Sharon, who runs After Sales Service. Sharon and I talked about my travel habits and use of the bags and she helped me upgrade to a newer bag, with a design more suited to handle the rigors of my travel schedule. Even though in short supply, Sharon was able to secure and ship the bag to me that day. I got the new bag in time for my next international trip.

Time to think about shortages?

Despite their pivotal role in the high technology value chain, electronic components are essentially a cyclical industry akin to older markets like steel and housing. As with steel and home building, growth expansion requires significant skills and capital expenditures, thus additions and reductions tend to be uneven and disruptive. And, like those industries, the willingness to get caught up in trend extrapolation has a powerful allure. Every participant in the chain gets caught up in the frenzy, thus the acceleration to the top and the inevitability of the cycle.