Are you being served?

The Wall Street Journal - Making the Most Of Customer Complaints - discussed how customers are judging companies by how well they handle customer complaints. It made me think of all the companies I’ve interacted with recently – Yahoo customer service – friendly, knowledgeable. 1and1.com referred me to a call center in the Philippines where the agent read a script. Vendor from Florida told me a flying rat story – strange, but extremely personable and I was talking to the owner. These experiences would---to some extent---affect whether I continue doing business with these companies.

What would your customers say about you?

This article provides solid guidelines on how companies can use customer complaints to do a better job. There is also interview with David Bowen, one of the authors of the article and study.