Customer Service - Does it really matter?

This blog is in response to Carla Santos’ blog, titled “Customer Service is a BIG DEAL.”  In my opinion, customer service is only important to an extent.

Take Ryanair for example.  Despite receiving much publicity for poor customer service, it has been experiencing significant increases in profit.  Why? because the low cost of its services has greater incentive power over buyers than customer service does.

When I receive poor customer service, I always say I won’t give that company my business again!  Then months later, when in need of the same service, I forget about my past incident and only consider the opportunity cost of switching to a different product.  This usually leads me back to the company I vowed never to give my business to again.

Obviously this depends on a company’s brand image.  If buyers are purchasing high priced products, customers expect superior customer service. But for “run of the mill” products it is fair to assume customers base their decisions predominately on the cost and quality of the product rather than customer service.  The majority of consumers will sacrifice excellent customer service if it means receiving a product or service at a lower cost.