The effect of the internet and effective customer service

In subsequent generations before ours, when customers are treated wrongly, they get very angry and probably never go back to that establishment while others may nag about it to a few other friends or colleagues, the fact that these few set of friends decide not to patronize a particular store any longer, does not mean that the business is going to fail, but we live in a technological age and things could travel farther than we can imagine.

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I once heard a story of two technological consultants who went by the name: Tom Farmer and Shane Atchison, they both had a guaranteed reservation in Houston hotel, but when they got into the hotel and tried to check in, they were told there was no room left in the hotel. The night clerk on the duty for the night did not even make things better, as he sounded unapologetic about the entire situation. Rather than storming out and telling a few friends, which would have probably been the available option centuries ago, Farmer and Tom actually designed a 17-screen graphic complaints with the words, ‘’yours is a very bad hotel” boldly inscribed, this design was sent through a mail system to the hotel and to three other friends, but in no time the news spread very fast and this left the hotel management with no other option than to begin to attend to questions from business travelers. Tom and Shane on the other hand, received attention from the hospitality team, several email responses as well as a national press coverage. It is believed that the news is still on the internet up till date.

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This implies that the presence of internet facility and social media could spread the news about your business faster than you think it can. If a certain percentage of customers that come to your establishment are treated with hostility, then imagine how well the news will get to the entire public, the news will get to everyone who has a mobile device and access to an internet connection. This also means that a competitor has easy access to your services and knows where exactly to counter you, your competitor knows exactly the type of services rendered, understands your goal and achievement and could just go on to bring your business down.

We can however, look on to the bright side of the internet situation, the publicity and awareness it gives to the business and the way the business can get day to day connections and customer growth. This implies that, the survival of your business is greatly dependent on your ability to get your customer skill to work effectively, the internet could either make or mare your business.