And as customers become more knowledgeable, customer service becomes more difficult. A while back there was a series of articles in Fortune magazine focusing on customer satisfaction and why Americans are so hard to please.
A researcher at J. D. Powers & Associates, a company that studies customer satisfaction in the auto industry, computers, airlines and long-distance service, stated: "What makes customer satisfaction so difficult to achieve is that you constantly raise the bar and extend the finish line. You never stop. As your customers get better treatment, they demand better treatment."
When I speak on customer service I usually tell a story that I read many years ago in USA Today. A man walked into bank in Spokane, Wash., to cash a $100 check. The bank teller refused to validate his parking ticket, saying he had to make a deposit. The customer asked to see a manager, who also refused to stamp the parking ticket. At that point the customer proceeded to withdraw $1 million from his account and walked across the street to a competitor and opened a new account. The next day, he went back to the same bank teller and withdrew another $1 million.
That's an expensive lesson to learn. So is losing any customer.
Mackay's Moral: Disappoint customers and they'll disappear.