The Last Word: Customer Solutions Profit Ideas

Many magazines (from retail trade magazines to general business press) have written about the customer service approach of the nation’s largest electronics retailer – Best Buy.

I continue to be impressed with their service model. They have created customer profiles for their store types – so that they can align merchandise with the needs of these profile types. They do not pay a commission. They train to the “Best Buy complete solution” which encourages gentle and added value suggestive selling of accessories, parts, etc.

They have valuable services in through their home entertainment and repair services programs. The return program is robust. And, they even match the pricing of other competitors. It turns out that what they really have operating here is a comprehensive Customer Experience Management program. What’s more, they have:

Trained to it.

Committed to it.

Delivered on it.

And they are staying the course with it.

I call this “Extreme Customer Experience Management.” Yet what really makes it extreme is the breadth and depth of the program and their commitment to it. The idea is far from extreme, it’s just good business!

Will they give in to pressures of this current economic environment and out of desperation change their service standards? I don’t think so. I think they have proven (since they collect and analyze all types of operational and sales data) that this level of customer experience management pays off.

As I have said many times before – it’s companies like this who will maintain customer loyalty – even when sales go down they will have a higher percentage of the available customer population. Assuming they keep their other costs in check, they could survive this time and come out stronger.