Beginning a Customer Service Odyssey

Today, I took my brand new Olympus Tough Stylus 6000 (ok, it's a week old) on a mountain bike ride and, during the ride, I stopped to take a picture. With the leash around my wrist, the camera slipped five inches onto the top tube of my bike and cracked the LCD. I was really surprised. I ride with cameras a lot and they always seem to get knocked around. I've never broken anything before.

The big reason I bought this camera was because of its name. I figured if you put the word "Tough" in the name of your camera it's going to be tougher than the average. The front of the camera doubles the promise by saying "1.5m/5ft Shockproof."

Naming is such an important part of branding. It holds a promise that binds the customer with the brand.

Tonight, I sent a note to Olympus to see what kinds of solutions they have to fix my camera. It will be interesting to see how they respond. Not only is naming important for brands but, today, customer service is critical. Social media is forcing companies to no longer look at customer service as appeasement. They must be proactive. Bad experiences move quickly across social networks, threatening a companies reputation in the blink of an eye.

Now that the conversation has started with Olympus, I'll let you know how it goes.

Comments

[Michael Bourne]

John, I saw this post and I am more than happy to connect you with customer service. They're good about helping either repair or replace you camera if it's under warranty. Call 888-553-4448 or email to [email protected]. Thanks.

[Georgeq]

Wow, they now have branded web stalkers who offer you customer service before you have asked for it. A brand coming to you... Intuitive? or invasive? Your call John.

[Sharon]

I think the transparency that the web enables raises the bar for customer service in a good way. Companies need to deliver or face having word about poor service/support get out.

As for "web stalkers" per the previous comment, if you're working (or writing) on behalf of a company, you should make that known.

[Antonio]

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