Good Customer Service Pays For Itself
Posted May 7th, 2007 by Howard TaylerWhen Sandra and I decided to sell books online we also decided to provide the best customer service we could. This means that if your book shows up damaged, or not at all, or if there’s anything at all wrong with your order, we’ll make it right.
We’ve sent out a lot of replacement books, but we don’t worry about the cost, because we know that it would be far more expensive to lose a the trust of our readers and friends.
A while back a sketch edition for The Blackness Between got bent in the mail, and we sent out a replacement when we heard about it. The customer in question objected at first, saying that the book could be easily bent back — it just needed time to sit under a large-print edition of the Physicians Desk Reference.
Well, it sat, pressing, and today I’m told it’s good as new. So now there’s this happy Schlocker out there with TWO sketch editions, but who paid for only one.
Said Schlocker is so happy he’s decided to auction off the extra book and donate the proceeds to me.
I figure most of you who want sketch editions already have ‘em, but just in case you don’t, here’s a chance to get one.
If you’re running a business of your own (or managing a business for somebody else) the lesson here is clear: good customer service pays for itself, one way or another.
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May 7th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Man, Howard… You’re getting paid more than 2 times (cover price) on this one. You definitely (and deservedly) have the good will of your fans.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Were they all signed on the front in silver ink? Or was that because it was a replacement? Or did he just have you sign it at a Con of some sort?
May 7th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Sandra’s going to take and post pictures of the “I got paaaiiiidddd x times. . .” dance then?
I’ll bid if there’ll be pictures.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
DaGrinch: Yes, all pre-order copies of TBB were signed on the front in silver metallic Sharpie. I found that opening the books to sign the inside covers was too time-consuming, and the front-cover signature is more in line with the way the comic book industry does things.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Hmmm… *looks at book* Mine has not been vandalized on the outside. I bet that makes it more valuable =P
It’s got Schlock in the back though, which was exactly who I wanted. Another couple dozen books, and I can collect the whole cast and crew!
May 7th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Really? Wow. I guess we missed one.
(Unless it’s “Under New Management,” in which case the sig is inside the book.)
May 7th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Yeah, it’s “The Blackness Between”. I guess I’m just special.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Heh. Like my books. The unsigned ones are scarcities.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
51 bucks already. Darn it…
I wanted a second one…
May 9th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Yes, Howard, you are quite right, good customer service does reap dividends. Sadly most of the large organisations have forgotten that these days. You deserve your success and I hope it lasts a good long time!
May 10th, 2007 at 5:31 am
From a strictly business POV, good customer service increases both customer satisfaction and job satisfaction for those dealing with the customers. Customer satisfaction affects the likelyhood of repeat customers and word-of-mouth advertising, which is the best kind there is (not because it’s free, but because it’s trusted by the audience).
These effects are hard to quantify and relatively long-term, so they are unlikely to show in your next quarterly figures – which means good service may show as cost without return, anathema to the MBAs who generally direct large corporations’ modes of operation.