Your customer service MUST rock in this economy.

That pretty much sums up my entire sentiment in this post. But, I have a couple of anecdotes that will help convince you if you aren't already on board:

In the past week I have heard two stories of very bad customer service:

• A friend who was accused of stealing a gift card from the 99 cent store when a computer error did not register the amount she had put on it when she bought it for her mom. Instead of her mom getting to buy fun treats with the card, they were both treated to an unfair lecture on stealing. My friend is a lawyer for a non-profit. She wants to help the world. The 99 cent store got in the way.
• Another friend wanted to try the free week promotion at a gym. They dug through their computer and found that she had been a member of a different branch 5 YEARS PREVIOUSLY. They threatened her as well and tried to make her buy a day rather than enjoying a week of the gym on their promotion, which might have encouraged her to join again.

By contrast, I ordered a microphone adapter for my iPod touch from a little company called Touch Mic (http://touchmic.com/). When I had a question about the product, they responded quickly with great information. But their customer service turned out to be nothing short of a miracle...

It seemed like the product was taking a long time to arrive, so I dropped them an e-mail. Here is the exchange that occurred once we realized that PayPal had given them my old address and that the product was sent there:

Touch mic-

 Oh dear. That is my old address. I moved to my current address in october. I have no idea why that would have been the one you got- perhaps paypal had it? my currrent address is on my credit card.

What do you suggest we do about this?

yikes.

Caroline

Their reply:

Hi Caroline,

We don't won't you to go "mic-less" so we will send you another mic via
1st class mail free of charge. It may take about a week to arrive.

Just send along your new address. :-)

Thanks!

-TouchMic.com

Yes. This is a direct transcript of our exchange. I wonder who is going to be be developing the most customer loyalty and the most new business out of their strategies with customers...

That's right. You might want to be the friendly one right now. It will stand out even more than you realize. Perhaps it will even result in a shout-out post, like this one.

Thank you, Touch Mic, for being a good example for all of us!