Long Live Customer Service…
If you’re reading this, you’re probably subscribed to my customer service list. So maybe it saddens you to hear that this thing you thought was so valuable, this thing you staked your future on, is now deader than the dinosaurs.
But fear not!
There’s hope yet.
Now, what do I mean when I say “customer service is dead”?
Do I mean that we should all start ignoring our customers, or responding to them rudely and refusing to help solve their problems?
I think we both know I’m not recommending that.
Am I saying that customer service isn’t a high value activity that businesses owners should focus on anymore? That “good enough” really is good enough.
A bit closer, but still wrong.
What I am saying is this…
Customer service, as conventionally defined, will only take you so far.
And it can only ever be so interesting. Customers have questions, problems, concerns, requests. And someone needs to handle those.
This can be done anywhere on the spectrum from very poorly to very well, and better IS better. But at the end of the day, even the best “customer service” is still just… customer service.
Enter Customer Service Marketing.
You’ve seen me use this term before, but let me explain it more fully here.
The first principle you need to understand is attention.
Without attention, you can do nothing. You can’t sell a product, you can’t retain a customer, you can’t, by definition, even get noticed.
So you already agree that attention is a VERY valuable commodity in sales and marketing.
Marketing is like a big fishing net, stretched out wide and then drawn in, bringing customers attention, and their money, further down your funnel.
Sales is like a diver with a spear gun, actively hunting down the most desirable customers with the most money and impaling their attention with a highly targeted pitch.
But in customer service, the attention comes to you.
The customer has a thing he needs you to do. He has asked you for help, and he’s actively awaiting your reply.
The fish of attention are literally chasing you down and leaping into your boat.
So what do most businesses do? What does the conventional customer service playbook say to do?
Essentially, they try to fight these fish off. Throwing them back into the sea, building higher walls on the boat, and trying to outrun them.
They view this onslaught of free attention as a nuisance!
Customer Service Marketing is the term I coined to describe the intelligent approach to this “problem.”
Building systems to capture this “free” attention, whether it’s good or bad when it comes in, and redirect it towards something productive.
Not just towards customer satisfaction. Not even just retention. But also towards new sales, and higher profits.
I’ve spent years in the field, learning these techniques by doing.
I’ve had various “job titles” like “customer service manager” that never seemed to capture the essence of what this is.
A Customer Service Manager is BORING. A (sometimes) necessary expense on the balance sheet, there to minimize problems and take so work off the hands of the business owners.
This is something different. Something powerful and indispensable to anyone ready to take their business to the next level.
I’m working on finalizing some specific offerings around this, but the basic idea is to provide this long-lost sibling of Sales and Marketing as a service to businesses who want to really step up their game.
I’ll make an announcement here soon when I have more to say, but if you’re already interested in becoming a test case for this, and begin reaping the benefits before the general public, send me an email.
— Mark
P.S. Still want to try and do it yourself first? I’ll be deleting my customer service guides soon, but for now, you can find them both here.
50% off with code LASTCHANCE
