I don’t know about you, but my friend and I are constantly looking for miracle cures for whatever ails us, and get sucked into purchasing the latest magic potions to achieve the desired outcome. Recently it was a ‘Miracle Eye Cream’ that was going to magically remove the years of stress, sun and life that were etched on our faces.
The marketing messages, testimonials and promises of results were enough to inspire my friend to pick up the phone and order. With anticipation she waited, and waited and waited—no delivery of Miracle Eye Cream. Finally, when she could stand it no longer, she called the ‘customer help’ line. Something one usually does with trepidation. An absolutely delightful woman gathered all the relevant facts and promised to return the call with the answers, which she did within two hours.
When the customer service representative phoned back she indicated the package had in fact been delivered to my friend’s place of work, and the consignment note had been signed and time dated. Perplexing. My friend went looking for the person who signed for the package. She found them and the person remembered signing for the package, but no one was able to locate the package.
The customer representative phoned back to ascertain if the package had been located. When she heard that the package had vanished she did something astonishing. She explained that her courier was due in half an hour and she would send over another package, free of charge. My friend protested, indicating that she didn’t need to do that, however the woman would not be deterred. Graciously, my friend thanked her and promised to return the original package should it turn up, the woman appreciated the offer but said it was unnecessary. The second package arrived the next day: Christmas Eve.
The original package never turned up; we believe someone else wanted to give the Miracle Eye Cream a whirl. However, this story has been passed around our network of friends and associates, with my friend becoming quite an advocate for the Miracle Eye Cream. She espouses its virtues whenever she can, unconsciously becoming a part of the selling machine. Several of our group has subsequently purchased the product.
One act of superior customer services translated into five additional sales. Will the Miracle Eye Cream erase 15 years off our faces? I’m not sure, but it makes us all feel good about ourselves. The true miracle potion in this story is the role customer service plays in creating sales and generating revenue.
—Nicole Billett is the general manager in Sales & Marketing for Servcorp
