The Unexpected Profit Engine@@

It’s so easy to credit the usual suspects within a company for generating profits: product, sales, etc. Yet almost no one includes customer service as a superstar, tagging it instead as a “cost center,” obvious code for a time and resource suck that’s required but not elevated or appreciated in the great pantheon of corporate revenue drivers. But within most standout companies, customer service teams are typically the “little profit engines that could.” Why? At my company, I always say if you’re a) helping our prospects or customers use our products or b) generating more insight about our customers and market for our team, you’re getting the job done. For us, it’s no question that customer service does these two things. In addition to liaising directly with customers, our member services team is an insight powerhouse, synthesizing the feedback they receive into a comprehensible and usable picture.Unsure of the best price point for our product? When we price test, our customer service team hears the feedback. Not clear if the product is a good fit for the market? Customer perspective is one big signpost for us. Everyone calling in with the same question? Sounds like an opportunity for some rapid iteration to me. I can’t overstate how valuable these conclusions, underpinned by actual customer interactions, are for our product, engineering and sales teams. Member services is often our earliest leading indicator for new initiatives in our business. A member services team helps grow the business by virtue of taking excellent care of your customers. They do the obvious: answer questions, listen to concerns, resolve problems, explain a lapse or lag. They do what’s practical: walk customers through how to use your product, help them log on, troubleshoot. They do what’s useful: upsell a customer or connect that person with the relevant team. Internally, they are the heralds, trumpeting the news that a product feature or service is very well received so you can continue giving the customer more of what they want. They also serve as the canary in the coal mine, giving product and engineering groups a well-timed heads up that your course requires correction.  

Good organizations are wise to build customer service into every person’s mindset, regardless of role. Every leader, no matter the function, should be required to do a customer service shift – even if it’s just listening in on calls where member services takes the lead. There’s nothing like hearing your customer firsthand to create empathy and understanding for him or her – and to spark new ideas that make your product or service much, much better. In fact, for the first five months after I started Reputation.com, I did all the customer service myself. In addition to feedback that was both fascinating and eminently useful to our business, I personally benefitted, becoming much more adept at effective listening and relating to customers authentically. As the company grew, I left customer service to others better suited but read every single customer email and call synopsis for the first two years. Even now, eight years later, I still read customer messages every day and take the occasional shift. What are the best customer service practices at your organization?