We’ve all been there at one point or another. Standing aghast in disbelief of what just happened. Scratching our head in wonder. How did it come to this? Vowing to never set foot inside that establishment, EVER AGAIN!
Customer Service horror stories – they are sadly a dime a dozen and becoming even more frequent (or at least seemingly more frequent) with the ability to publicize these interactions via social media. Whether it be the difficulty of getting an actual person on the phone, receiving a timely response to an inquiry, or being provided with misinformation – the experience and resulting brand impression for a consumer and their sphere of influence can go south quickly.
These types of experiences are evident and impactful in our day-to-day lives as consumers. But customer service plays an equally vital role in business-to-business interactions as it does in our personal lives. In fact, a 2023 Salesforce survey of 11,000 consumers and 3,300 business buyers worldwide concurred, citing “80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.”
I’m embarking on my 20th year in the marketing space and as a decision maker, I evaluate potential and incumbent partnerships. Nearly universally, the human element is falling behind – replaced with algorithms, artificial intelligence, automated operators, and unhelpful chat bots. As a result, in my evaluations, I heavily weigh responsiveness, accountability, values, and relationships. These factors are equivalently, if not more important, to the success of our joint ventures as the core product these partners provide. Rare is the offering that is proprietary – another entity can always supply that technology, with service being the differentiator.
Revisiting the Salesforce report, many engaging in B2B partnerships would agree. While 84% of survey respondents expect their B2B partners to act as trusted advisors, 73% state those relationships feel transactional.
This is where Brkthru enters the conversation. Do we have access to all the bells and whistles? Absolutely. Are our team members incredibly knowledgeable of a complicated ecosystem? Certainly. Can we drive tangible business results for our clients? Indeed. We are expert marketers, but we don’t view ourselves as a marketing company. At our core, what drives us each and every day is to be the gold standard of service. A service company that also happens to be really good at marketing. To us, success means leaving you in disbelief, scratching your head in wonder, asking…
How did Brkthru anticipate my needs and questions?
How did they get that campaign launched at the 11th hour?
How do they get back to me so quickly?
How did I ever do this without them?
If you’d like to join the vast majority of our other clients in pondering these questions, give us a shout. You’ll vow never to sacrifice white glove service again.
Sources:
State of the Connected Customer