So I guess it’s one of those things that you can go round and round about, trying to debate if the lack of customer service these days is blamed on a lack of Customer Loyalty, or just a change in culture, or pressures felt with price competition.  Maybe it’s all of these, and I’m sure there are other factors that influence this as well.

Regardless of the reason, there are still companies that believe in providing great customer service, and are able to balance that with competitive price.  I think it’s actually more of a mindset…providing poor service is easy to do, especially if you have the attitude that ‘they’re getting what they paid for.’

I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on your point of view) to be raised in a culture that placed a huge amount of emphasis on customer service, and that has stayed with me to this day.  I think there is still such a thing as customer loyalty, although definitely harder to find these days.  Because of customer service, I have been fortunate enough to have a large following of loyal customers over the years, and many of these customers have become my good friends.  And I know that my experience will dictate what I say to my friends.  If I have a positive experience shopping, I will definitely tell my friends and make a recommendation.  If I am treated poorly, I will make sure I tell my friends also…I truly believe that if I receive poor service from a company, I should do whatever I can to let my friends and acquaintances know about it so they don’t have to go through the same thing.

So as consumers, we can do something to make sure that customer service doesn’t leave the American culture.  We can buy from stores that provide excellent service, and we can recommend those shops to our friends and families.  We can also tell our friends and families when we are treated poorly by a company so that they don’t give their business to that same company.  It’s really a shame to see these companies prosper when they continue to treat people poorly.

And as a business, we can also strive to continue to provide excellent customer service, and if we’re not providing the best service available now, we should take steps to improve our service so that we can provide world class service.

It’s something we have to work on as a nation, because the last thing we want is to have great customer service disappear.