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Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation
Society for New Communications Research, Jan 2008, Pages: 30
Customer care has never been a more integral component of a business' success. World population is estimated to be 6.8 billion by the year 2010, and all of these people are going to need care. The good news is - those of us in the care business will likely have jobs. The challenge, however, is that providing that 1:1 care interaction will become cost prohibitive for businesses. Exacerbating that situation is the consumer's increased expectation on how, when, where they interact. They are less loyal. As described in a Wall Street Journal book review of The Trophy Kids by Ron Alsop, “While members of other generations were considered somewhat spoiled in their youth, millennials feel an unusually strong sense of entitlement.” So get ready business - no longer are we living in a era of 'buyer beware.” We're now in an age of “businesses beware.”
Technical advancements have created significant changes in the care experience and helped elevate opinions on what the care experience should include. As the web enabled 24x7 support, consumer expectations about access to information, service and support increased. As search empowered consumers to get information on their own terms, their sense of independence increased. Now, online social networks create communities where consumers can share experiences and opinions and have a much faster and greater reach - and impact on brand. We know by watching the morning talk shows that businesses can no longer hide from a bad experience. People taping care interactions, posting video on YouTube, and in matter of weeks if not days, talking to Matt Lauer on the NBC Today Show. Today one bad care interaction can create millions of negative brand impressions.
As if this social media onslaught wasn't enough for businesses to tackle, there are other business dynamics at play. The speed of innovation has never been greater. Some say that you have nine months before the competition catches up with you. Price, features, and quality are no longer enough to differentiate a product or service. As products and services have become commoditized, the ability to keep consumers engaged is based on drivers other than product and price, according to Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York-based research firm that specializes in assessing brand loyalty. ''More and more, customer service levels are contributing more to purchasing decisions.''
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