Customer Support Services

25. May, 2010 0 Comments

Service is everywhere. And most days, we don’t even notice it. Think about it. Go to your local hamburger place. You get ‘service’. Wait in line at the Dairy Queen..At the window, you get ‘service’. Or what about the folks who greet you at Walmart? The sales people at Macy’s? Your insurance agent. Your real estate broker. Your babysitter. See? It really is everywhere.

One thing you might have noticed is how service can be delivered differently by companies that seem to have the same target market in mind.

I spent some time recently in Starbucks. Pretty special for someone from New England who has grown up on Dunkin Donuts. Here are two very interesting and very different approaches to the same product: Coffee. Now both places offer an extended menu beyond breakfast pastries – sandwiches and frozen beverages, for example. But they deliver their products in very different ways.

Dunkin Donuts is about quick service. Place order, pay, get coffee. Very much a high-speed operation. Prices are reasonable at only a couple bucks for a cup of coffee. Perfect business for a drive-thru. Quality varies – seems like I’m always getting burnt coffee at the airport here. Each Dunkin Donut location is franchised. But the experience is generally the same – get in, order, pay, get out.

Starbucks. Wow! Almost forgot I was there for just “coffee”. Sure the coffee menu is a little more complex and the coffee is a little different. But, it’s the entire experience that wraps it. The staff warmly greets you and prepares each coffee especially for you (with your name on the cup!). The coffee costs ‘significantly’ more. Getting in and out takes much longer. There is music playing, there’s a ‘question of the day’ and crossword puzzle on the counter for anyone to play, and the customers sink into overstuffed chairs and sofas to drink their coffee. Starbucks owns and controls each location.

Walk into one of each and experience the difference in the style and level of service. Same product (coffee), but very different customer service events. Depending on your day, your mood and your own particular personality, one might be a better ‘coffee fit’ for you. But if you’re looking at just the customer service experience and rapid development of brand loyalty, well… There have been books written about Starbucks. You can see why.