Why Customer Service Teams Should Sit Under Marketing

Stop cancelling out all your marketing efforts with terrible customer service experiences.

I bought a new monitor this week. It’s supposed to be a big upgrade on what I’ve been working with — a shiny new 144hz IPS monitor for gaming. It wasn’t the cheapest. I’d had a monitor from this tech company before (we’ll call them Comp Corp). It has lasted me 15 years, and although it still technically works it’s developed a slight blue hue and flickers from time to time. I had confidence that my new Comp Corp monitor would go the distance given my previous experience with this brand and conversations with friends about the quality of their monitors.

Unfortunately my new screen didn’t even last 15 hours! So I had to contact tech support. I’m not a computer expert, but I’m also not a noob by any means. I spent a good hour troubleshooting the issue, different cables, ports, devices — nothing worked. I crafted an in-depth message to tech support outlining everything I had tried. They were initially very helpful and despite the absolutely awful inbox system for messaging, that didn’t allow for video uploads despite them needing video demoing the problem, tried their best to help. The screen started miraculously working that night and we thought it might be over — the agent told me to keep them posted if malfunctioned again.

I replied to the support agent’s message the next day — screen unfortunately broken again this morning. It’s a new day so I expect to get a different agent. But, what I also expect is that the agent reads through my thread to see the problem so they can hit the ground running. I instead get asked if I’ve tried plugging it in a different port (yes I say — I had also put this in my original messages if they read back). They ask for my address — great I’m getting a replacement! When replying to my address message they start asking me more troubleshooting questions that are answered in the original message and the replacement idea seems to have disappeared totally.

I start to curse Comp Corp and look over at my functioning Acme Monitors screen wishing that I’d bought from them instead…

Where are you going with this?

Stick with me, I’m making my point.

In that fleeting moment, all of the efforts the marketing and product teams had put into developing a positive perception of Comp Corp disappeared. I was looking at a competitor wishing I’d given them my money rather than wasting my time repeating myself to various support agents. I was already frustrated that my brand new monitor was broken and instead of helping they had been causing more friction.

So many brands fail to recognise the importance of customer service to marketing efforts. Yet many of them are consistently talking up the importance of customer experience in the context of marketing efforts. You could have the best marketing strategy in the world, but it will all fall apart as soon as your audience encounters a touchpoint outside of marketing’s direct control. The customer experience marketing has dreamed up doesn’t stop once the purchase has been made. Word-of-mouth and repeat purchase exist and are incredibly valuable to the bottom line, but both often fail to make an impact through bad customer service.

In my dream scenario, customer service would sit under marketing and it would be made clear to teams just how their efforts make an impact on brand perception. All customer queries would be frictionless and aim to leave the customer with a smile on their face — even after all the trouble they may have encountered with the product. Unfortunately it doesn’t often work like that, so instead consumers are left with frustrating, disjointed experiences. They’re sold a brand on the basis of a positioning statement and core messaging that doesn’t penetrate all aspects of the business that they might encounter.

Why bother even marketing if it all falls apart at purchase?

I’m being a little bit facetious there, but in all seriousness if consumers have repeatedly bad experiences they won’t buy. Especially in hyper competitive markets.

I found myself using Apple as an example of great customer service when moaning about my monitor plight to friends. I’ve had numerous Apple products go seriously wrong over the years, but I keep going back. Why?

Every Apple touchpoint I encounter is positive. When their products go wrong, their customer service is fantastic and leaves me smiling, even with a broken (expensive) device in my hands. When my Apple Watch stopped working I had a replacement on my wrist before they even received the defective one back — I don’t think I went longer than 48 hours without the watch. They removed the friction and inconvenience in an instant.

Apple’s marketing and customer service efforts are aligned. I don’t feel like I’m being sold a lie when speaking to someone after I’ve made a purchase. My experiences have been so consistent over the years I don’t hesitate to recommend them — that is powerful in the world of marketing.

I did end up getting offered a monitor replacement in the end. I tweeted Comp Corp and they were a lot more helpful, offering to send a courier out to replace and collect my broken screen. I wish customer service channels worked outside of social media…