Bottled Water Delivery and ‘Superior Customer Service’: Hype Vs Reality
Bottled water delivery is all about performance. Exceeding what you promise and delivering better than promised customer delivery not only makes for happy customers but grows a business nicely.
But promises are cheap especially in the bottled water delivery business. Every supplier of bottled water talks about superior customer service - but few deliver. Many large suppliers overpromise to get the account and then require a draconian contract to hold the customer to substandard service and broken promises. It’s a variation of the old “bait and switch” con.
What is customer service in the bottled water delivery business?
In addition to the health benefits of bottled water, many buy bottled water delivery services as a matter of convenience and perceptions of convenience are critically important.
Delivery services contain a number of elements and customer satisfaction must be total at each level:
Here’s the problem: Experiencing great customer service opens peoples’ mouths to spread the good word about a company. Hearing or reading unsubstantiated claims of great customer service, meanwhile, opens their mouths wide for a good yawn.
As marketing guru Tim Miles, likes to say, “Don’t tell her you’re courteous. Open her door!“
How does one gauge “Superior Customer Service”? It is easy to make promises - talk is cheap. But what about performance? Consider these tests:
Does the water company require a contract?
This is a dead give-away because contracts are a great way to cover up broken promises about service but still hold the customer to the water service - no matter how bad.
Contracts that have a penalty for cancelation should be avoided at all cost because they are unethical and one sided in favor of the vendor.
Can you cancel without penalty?
A good way to ensure top notch service is to maintain the ability to cancel at any time for any reason. A few companies in the bottled water delivery business have such confidence in their superior customer service that they are will to pay the penalty of cancelled service if they don’t please the customer.
Are promises verifiable or just hyperbole? Is there a cost to the supplier to maintain superior customer service?
The best way to tell if “Superior Customer Service” is real is to see what it costs the supplier. Some examples:
“You’re phone call will be answered by a human being within 7 rings. We never use automated answering services.” (There is a cost to the supplier for training and maintaining a staff of persons to answer calls.)
“We staff our own help desk - no answering services, no off-shore technical support. For your convenience, the desk is staffed during working hours with technical service reps that have no less than 2 years experience.” (Training is expensive.)
“We Provide Emergency Water Delivery Service “(This promise requires real commitment from the supplier.)
These services cost the supplier and are more than mere hype.
Can Superior Customer Service be Measured?
Measurement of customer service is a good way to see if customer service is real:
There are many suppliers of bottled water delivery service and many promises. Chose a supplier that really delivers.
About The Author:
Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Board of Element H2O. For more information about bottled water, private label bottled water and bottled water delivery go to http://www.elementh2o.com
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