Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

Many people find themselves bedazzled and confused as to what marketing is and what its real purpose is behind any organization, business, or institution. Marketing to me has always meant a good and honest relationship with the customer. The bitter experiences I have had with many businesses and their customer service have really maintained me away from being a consumer; but in the end, we all need to be either consumers or suppliers to survive in this globalized world.  When I shop, I mostly do it online, but because I’m ordering something through a computer screen, does not mean I’m not expecting interaction with a human being in order to receive good customer service. During the Black Friday madness I ordered a pair of boots online from ALDO. As soon as my order was charged and put through, I became entangled with problems regarding the tracking of my order and my debit card in part due to the website’s heavy traffic, so you can imagine the frustration and desperation I felt since my debit card information was up there. I swooped up the phone and called customer service. Samantha helped me throughout the whole process of finding and solving the problems with my tracking number but not before asking me how my day and my Thanksgiving holiday were, truly making me feel comfortable and familiar to her voice. The simple fact of me remembering her name shows how creating a good relationship with the customer is of utter importance in marketing a brand, company, business, or organization. That is why I have always associated the word marketing with relationship. Building relationships with a complete stranger may not be the easiest task but it certainly is the most important task for a business to truly succeed and prosper in today’s marketable world. “Broadly defined, marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging value with others. In a narrower business context, marketing involves building profitable, value-laden exchange relationships with customers. Hence, we define marketing as the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.” (Marketing An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg. 4)