Note:  This post originally appeared on the old Balhoo blog on 11/27/09 by Caroline Moore

In today’s climate of “fast food” lifestyle and “less is more” business approaches one may wonder where good old fashioned customer service comes into ROI. I am happy to say I work for a company that still puts it at the top of the list.

As sales people, we work so hard to acquire that new customer. We have all been educated on the fact that it costs five times more to acquire that new customer than to keep an existing one, so we focus on customer service. At Balihoo we know that we are in a competitive industry, but we continue to gain market share and increase sales because we also know that quality service is one of the variables that can distinguish us from our competition. We understand that the customers are the lifeblood of our business and thus we need to understand them and serve them better than anyone else. Do we make mistakes? Surely we do, but it has been found that 95% of dissatisfied customers will become loyal customers again if their complaints are handled well and quickly and that is our approach. By truly understanding our customers and getting to know them and their businesses, we can better focus on their needs. A better focus on their needs leads to better service. Better service leads to greater loyalty and the best payment a customer can make is one of loyalty.

This leads to another area of customer service focused not on just the value of the customer, but rather the value of their state of mind. What price can you put on the fact that people like to do business with happy people.  I have been in sales for more than a decade and have always been qualified as a “good” salesperson. I do not know that I have always had a superior understanding of product or knowledge, but most would agree I have a level of spirit and enthusiasm for what I do that appeals to the customer and has resulted in success. It has been said that 80% of a customer’s buying decision is emotional with the other 20% is the logic that backs it up. I find this to be true. So as we try to offer the customer service to our clients at Balihoo that make them that happy client that tells five people about their positive experience rather than that one dissatisfied customer that could potentially tell ten, we put to work the integrated approach we apply to the marketing solution we sell. We value the customers we have even as we develop new clients, focus on client needs, move to correct errors competently and swiftly, and always do all these things with the happy heart that comes with being a Balihoo employee. If we continue to move forward with these key customer objectives at the cornerstone of our growth our success is inevitable.