Customer Satisfaction

In recent years, an important debate has formed: “What is the true value of service?” In an economy where price has become king, consumers are often asking themselves, “Is a higher price worth the peace of mind that comes with a higher quality of service?” Ultimately, how much is that peace of mind worth? This is often a pivotal decision in our industry. Even though our commodity-driven industry is highly price-competitive, I have found that service and providing peace of mind can still set a company apart and result in long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Countless times in my career I have been asked, “Your price is competitive, but why should I give you my business?” My response is simple: “If you buy from me, then you get my attention to customer satisfaction along with everything else that my company has to offer.” In my career, I have been fortunate to work for two of the most customer-friendly and service-oriented companies around. With everything else being equal, it is hustle, hard work, and most importantly, service that keep the customer coming back.

I was taught early on in my career that if you gain an account strictly on price, then one day you will lose it on price. That resonated with me, and I keep that in mind whenever I receive a customer phone call to say they need boxes or an order modification, regardless of whether it’s a weekday, a weekend, or even a holiday—even when a customer 300 miles away needs a delivery the next morning and I need to be the one who delivers it to meet a deadline. I may someday lose an account on price, but I will never lose an account on service.

Defining Quality

What constitutes quality service and customer satisfaction? Quality service is about being able to adapt my products and services to a customer’s business model (i.e., their needs and wants). You can’t be everything to everyone, so it’s important to focus on what you do well as a company and service professional and dominate that customer segment. I strive to avoid losing market share by remaining flexible and customizing my products and services to make sure each and every one of my customers is taken care of to the best of my ability.

My approach to business is similar to how an athlete approaches a game. When I am between the lines, anything goes, and the success of my team (my customers and the company I work for) is all that matters. When it comes to service and my value to the customer, I leave little doubt in my customer’s mind that I will hustle and work hard to deliver the highest level of service for their business. If a competitor is ever able to undercut my pricing, I want the customer to contemplate whether the money they are saving is worth the risk of a lower quality of service than they are accustomed to. If I have done my job correctly, the answer will always be no.

The Cost of Peace of Mind

How do you quantify quality service and peace of mind? Is that quality service and peace of mind only a perceived value, or is there a bottom-line impact to the customer? I have heard many stories over the course of my career where a consumer will switch vendors only to realize that they weren’t getting what they thought they were getting, which in turn slows production and results in a loss in profits. The question then is this: Was the loss in productivity greater than the savings realized for the cheaper product? In other words, was the loss in service worth the money saved?

Because it is difficult to quantify that difference, those questions will continually be re-evaluated, and while many buyers have been trained to look at price first, it seems that the more experienced buyers are able to identify the value of service and the importance that it holds within their organization. And, they are able to quantify that quality service and peace of mind that comes with it.

When it comes to quality service and its quantifiable value, I often think about the fact that every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion, or it will be killed. In contrast, every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. … When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.

Josh Sobel is an account manager at Jamestown Container and an AICC Emerging Leader Board Delegate. He can be reached at 216-952-0802 or josh.sobel@jamestowncontainer.com.