When Customer Service is Marketing

This is the title of a post by Ginger Conlon, Editor-in-Chief, Direct Marketing News.  You can read it here.

She writes about the proactive messaging from several companies in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy hitting NJ & NY.  I agree with her point, as far as she goes.  But she doesn’t go far enough.

Customer Service is always marketing.

Every time you have an interaction with a customer, a transaction with a customer, it’s marketing.  The customer is testing whether she/he can trust you enough to do business with you.  It’s hard to gain that trust and easier than it should be to lose it.

If you don’t see Customer Service as Marketing … you’re missing an important factor and may be losing a lot of customers.  Although, if it’s any consolation, there are too many businesses in that same boat.

Filed under: Direct Commerce, Ideas, Opinion, customer loyalty, customer service, Direct Marketing News, hurricane sandy, marketing, retention