Retailers seek to define good customer service

What makes good customer service? The Dallas Morning News reports that in a world where the average retailer has to compete with online businesses and a wider variety of stores offering better deals, customer service can the one thing they have some control over in order to lure buyers to their stores.

Another very important reason that retailers are fretting over consumer happiness is that today's angry customer can do more than just tell a couple of friends: they can go online and tell thousands. They can rate stores and restaurants on services like Yelp.com, chronicle their hotel experiences on TripAdvisor.com or even take their woes to the Consumerist blog which has featured particularly egregious cases of bad customer service.

Defining good customer service seems to be the tricky part. More people seem to know when they get bad customer service as opposed to when they get great customer service. It can be a variety of things for different types of stores as well as for different shoppers.  At more high-end stores, customers might expect a more interactive experience with the salespeople but at other retailers, customer service can be as simple as a swift and efficient check out or the things you never really think about like clean restrooms and well-stocked shelves.

How do you define good customer service? For me, it is often about service and more about problem solving. Like many consumers, I do my research before going to stores so I often know what I am looking for and where to find it. But when I have a question or there is a problem with my purchase, finding a person who is willing to help me find a solution makes all the difference.