Online Furniture Companies Investigate The Benefits Of "great" Customer Service

If you ask the typical consumer, what type of store offers the worst customer service

, furniture stores are at the top of the list.

There seems to be a general acceptance in the industry that non-responsive customer service personnel, salespeople who are not knowledgeable about their products and a general lack of willingness to spend money to solve problems, are simply the "status quo and that all their competition is providing similar levels of customer service.

What most furniture companies do not seem to realize, in both brick and mortar stores and online furniture retailers, is that the status quo is woefully short of the standards maintained by nearly every other consumer product industry.

Why is customer service so much worse in the furniture industry? Because furniture companies can easily see how much money they are spending for their customer service people, but they can't see any money that these people are generating. While there can be a huge payoff long term for providing great customer service, most furniture companies take a very short-term view of their business.

In the furniture industry, customer service is usually viewed as an "expense" and every business person knows that companies make profits by cutting expenses. Furniture companies, both online and off, fail to measure both the cost of alienating their customers or the increased sales that can be realized with "great" customer service.

The best customer service companies in the furniture industry go over and beyond to satisfy their customers. Great customer service in the furniture industry means more than just taking care of problems when they occur. It also means being proactive, to communicate with the customer throughout the sales and delivery processes.

The first step for a furniture company that wants to offer "great" customer service is a direct customer service phone line and e-mail address that are answered by real people. In addition these real people need to be knowledgeable about the products and also have the authority to solve problems.

Fortunately, there are a few furniture companies that recognize the importance of delivering top notch customer service. When a customer tries to contact a customer service department of a furniture company, they are usually delighted just to have a human being answer the phone. The best ones actually are available 24 hours a day, showing complete commitment to their customers and their needs. A company with great customer service will have return policies and warranties that reflect their belief in the quality of their products. They don't fall back on exclusions and exceptions hidden in the fine print of the sales agreement.

What was the return policy of the last place you bought furniture from? How long were you allowed to try out your furniture before the store would no longer accept returns? If you did try to return something who was responsible for the shipping charges?

There are many online stores that will take back products with no questions asked. Almost none of them are furniture companies. Can you imagine a furniture company that offered that kind of guarantee?

Actually, there is at least one online furniture company that offers just that kind of warranty. If their customers are not happy with their furniture for any reason whatsoever, they can return it up to one year later for a full refund -- including shipping charges.

Furniture companies with great customer service understand that keeping customers happy (and preventing customers from feeling mistreated or abused)makes sound business sense.

A satisfied customer is nice, but a delighted customer will bring in new customers to your store. An unhappy customer will also spread the word. There is a cost to that, perhaps not as easily measured as the salary being paid to a customer service clerk, but it is a real and significant cost.

It's also a whole lot more fun figuring out how to delight your customers with great service than it is to spend your time dealing with angry and upset customers created by poor customer service.

by: Jeff Frank

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