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01/24/2011: "Customer Service Can Make or Break a Business."

I remember when AT&T and all the baby bells were the only game in town. If you had telephone service, you bought it through a bell or you simply went without. And customer service? Forgetaboutit! They could be as lousy to you as they wanted because they knew you had no options.

Well sir, times have changed.

I have two accounts at Bank of America. I'd like to add more money and do more with the accounts. But, I can't get anyone on the telephone. And when I actually walk into the nearby branch, I'm lucky if anyone will acknowledge my presence. I'm closing the accounts.

I took my business to the bank who has looked after my money for some twenty years and was treated like a queen. Moreover, I got a lovely card from the bank after opening another account. The card was handwritten by the woman who helped me. She thanked me for my loyalty to the bank.

No business is good enough or important enough to ignore customer service. And you shouldn't think your service or your business can get away with shabby customer or client service either.

We copywriters tend to be asses much of the time. And the better we are at what we do, the more of an ass we tend to be. Perhaps we should look at ourselves a bit and ask if perhaps some manners and polish might be in order.

It's true no one can replace me. Or you. No one has my background and education and skill. Nor yours. But clients and prospective clients all too often judge us on appearances and not on what we can do for them, despite the fact we asses to the nines. Perhaps that's bad judgment on their part. But, it's human nature.

Think about it. A bit of niceness can't hurt and it might even land you a client who prefers niceness to the results you can get for them.