Why Brands Should Care About Customer Care

From the manufacturing process to the layout of the company website, every aspect of a brand sends signals to consumers that constitute the brand image inside their minds. If even one of these elements is not in line with the brand strategy, it can weaken its integrity.

The findings of this survey indicate that customer service can be a powerful advantage over competitors if leveraged correctly. One company, Zappos.com, discovered this early on. Founded in 1999, Zappos leveraged their customer service to become the top online retailer of footwear, and was bought by Amazon.com in 2009 for $1.2 billion. "Over the years, the number one driver of our growth at Zappos has been repeat customers and word of mouth," writes Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh in a Huffington Post editorial. "Our philosophy has been to take most of the money we would have spent on paid advertising and invest it into customer service and the customer experience instead, letting our customers do the marketing for us through word of mouth."

This word-of-mouth marketing costs Zappos nothing. Yet, its volunteer army of brand ambassadors reinforces Zappos' brand signal of exceptional customer service, which in-turn drives sales. "Customers today have unprecedented power to broadcast their experiences — good and bad — to a virtually unlimited audience," says Bush. "This new and growing power raises the stakes for every single service interaction a company has with its customers." 

Source: Article by Andrew Davis: Beneath the Brand

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