Do custmers percieve extrodinary customer service as good value for money ?

hannah636

I am dong a research project into customer service in the UK fashion industry.
Companies now use customer service as a way to gain a competitive edge but do you think its worth it ?
Customer service excellence comes at a price, Good customer service takes time and money for businesses to achieve and this cost is often reflected in the price of products.
I would like to know if you perceive this extraordinary service as good value for money or if you would rather pay less for certain items and not receive the service at all ?

busiscoming2

You may get more responses if you ask for this to be moved to another board.

I think customer service is worth it in most instances, especially on more expensive items. Depending on the item I will deliberately buy from a store with excellent customer service, which gives me confidence if something should go wrong, it is most likely to be sorted quickly.

reehsetin

I don't think basic customer service (aka politeness and thoughtfulness) are expensive it's just embedding the right culture and hiring the right people (not affected by money alone)

How many sales are lost due to bad service, i was once quoted something like 80% of people who exited without purchasing something didn't because of bad CS (don't believe it but not in a position to dispute it). Good CS = more sales = more profit (without higher prices).

Katiehound

I think it depends what you mean by customer service.
Firstly the sales assistants need to be polite and helpful....rather than looking busy and ignoring customers! But I think that comes down to basic courtesy. Generally speaking if the sales assistants are rude I wouldn't bother spending my money in that shop.

The other important part of customer service is how complaints are handled. If something turns out to be faulty with the garment or goes wrong within a short time of purchase then I would expect the store to refund the money or replace, so yes that would be an increased cost. If the customer with a faulty garment is just dismissed then I would not shop there again. Surely to goodness that shouldn't come at an extra cost for I assume the fault will lie with the manufacturer.
However if I buy things very cheaply then I do not expect them to be of the same quality or last as long as a dearer item- that is simple economics.

There used to be the following adage: "The customer is always right!" and Iremember a very well known chain store always erring on the customer's side over a complaint because they did not want to lose custom- these days I don't think refunds are given quite so easily.

I wouldn't call the customer service I have mentioned here to be extraordinary.........it should be the norm.