Does the Amazon customer service model make a difference to their success?
The answer: Absolutely.
The customer is everything. Jeff Bezos knows this, and that’s part of the reason why he’s been able to take the spark of an idea and transform it into one of the most recognizable brands in history.
Ultimately, no business can thrive without paying attention to the people who are fueling its success. Whether you own your own business or you’re an Amazon customer yourself, here’s five important lessons that Bezos has taught us when it comes to creating a solid consumer model.
Understand Your Customers’ Needs
It’s unfortunately the case that many times the needs of others are in one ear out the other. That lack of attention on the needs of the consumer make it nearly impossible to provide solutions to detrimental problems.
Jeff Bezos takes listening to the customer very seriously. In fact, he’s so passionate about it that he’s made managers train in the call center in order to learn how to really listen to what their consumers were saying.
Respect the Modern Day Customer Experience
“If there’s one reason we have done better than of our peers in the Internet space over the last six years, it is because we have focused like a laser on customer experience, and that really does matter, I think, in any business,” Bezos has said. It certainly matters online, where word-of-mouth is so very, very powerful.”
In bygone days, one bad customer experience would maybe end up being shared with a handful of peers. In today’s world, one bad customer experience is likely to go viral on the internet. This is one of the Amazon customer service strategies that has had the biggest impact on protecting their business.
Make Them the Most Important Person in the Room
Looking for a metaphor to understand just how important customers are to Amazon? Bezos recommends thinking about customers as though they’re the most important guest at a party. ““We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts,” he has said. “It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” Amazon strives to do exactly this in every aspect of their business, and that’s why their Prime memberships are chock-full of benefits.
Don’t Settle for Less Than Perfect
You’ll often find that the most successful people are the ones who work relentlessly to reach their goals and who are never satisfied with mediocrity. Of course, perfection is a nearly impossible thing to achieve. But when it comes to satisfying the needs of its customers, Bezos wants Amazon to get as close to it as possible. That means focusing on making customers happy. Take it from Bezos: You know if you make a customer unhappy, they won’t tell five friends, they’ll tell 5,000 friends. So we are at a point now where we have all of the things we need to build an important and lasting company, and if we don’t, it will be shame on us.”
Create a Customer-Centric Company
People may think that Amazon is trying to take over the world. But the truth is that their mission is “to be earth’s most customer-centric company.” So if you’re wondering how they’ve become one of the most unmistakably recognizable brands in the world, this is your answer. Of all the Amazon customer service strategies that matter, this one encapsulates it all. They’re not thinking about their needs or desires. They’re thinking about how they can serve the needs of the people who are using their product.
Data Source: referralcandy.com, salesforce.com
