Hello from Nairobi!
With companies quickly embracing social media as a marketing tool I thought it would be wise to remind everyone that customer service still counts, no matter how many Twitter followers you have.
Case in point: Yesterday we visited the Animal Orphanage just outside Nairobi. It was a couple of hours after lunch and we all were starving. So we decided to grab a quick lunch before visiting the animals. There was a great restaurant overlooking a watering hole. The baboons and antelope (at least I think that’s what these bambi-lookalikes were!) were in full force. The atmosphere was great. They even had all the flag of the nations in the World Cup all over the place.
But it took more than 90 minutes for our food to get to us.
This is not just a case of “that’s how it is in Africa”. This is a case of forgetting that the customer experience is paramount.
Most of my work these days revolves around marketing and showing companies how they can effectively use social media tools in engaging their community online. However, I always insist that no matter how cool their website is; or how many Twitter followers or Facebook friends they have, they must always remember one thing: The experience I have when I visit their online or offline space trumps everything.
If the customer service rep is rude; if the food is cold; if they forget about me as soon as I walk out the door with my purchase then everything else matters not.
Customer service matters.