The best investment for your business (Saturated Market)

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The best investment for your business

Think about the last few companies you've had to deal with (as a customer). Did any of them stand out? Good, bad, anything? If they did, I'll bet you anything that the defining factor was customer service.

I know I've blogged about this before. And so have many others before me. But it bears repeating. And I feel like telling a story.

I'm a Rogers customer. Mostly. I have their phone, their internet, and their cable. I've been with them less than a year, and prior to that, I'd always been a Bell guy. My roommate convinced me to get Rogers for our apartment this year, so I decided to give them a shot. The initial set-up was a little rough. Because I didn't have a credit card at the time, and thus no credit (hey, what do you expect from a student?), I had to be put on a pre-authorized billing plan. But hey, no biggie- saves me the trouble of having to pay it myself. So we get it all arranged, and wait for the installation.

Here's where we hit a snag. They hooked up the net and tv, but no phone. So I called them up (on my Bell cellphone), and it turns out I can't put a phone on a bank account for pre-authorized billing. Only credit card. The woman tells me it's their company policy. Now, this is where most conversations end. "It's our policy, sorry." "It's our policy, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." "Policy. You're SOL, friend." But instead, the CSR on the other end said, "I'll see what I can do."

Maybe a week later, my credit card arrives in the mail. I get it all set-up, I'm ready to go. I'm about to call Rogers, and they call me. The woman on the other end (same one, I might add), tells me that she's gone ahead and put my phone on the same account as the cable and internet. Great!

All is well for the next few months. Then one day, I get one of my bills, and they've double-billed me. Oh geez. I've heard horror stories of people having to argue with companies forever about this stuff. So I email them about it. The very same day, I get a reply: they made a mistake, and they'll take care of it. So a month later, I check my next bill and my bank account: not only did they remove the extra charge, they charged me less the next time around.

Nothing they did here was over the top or fantastically expensive. But it was a little extra care and effort. And what did they get? Likely a life-long customer, a very vocal proponent of their services, and a new cellphone customer once my Bell contract is up.

Looks like they just increased their return!

Until next time,