Ronni Marshak’s article this week takes pointers from some very small companies she discovered while completing her holiday shopping online. What do small companies do to gain our enthusiasm and loyalty that large companies ignore? It’s about the personal touch, of course. Yet, many of the lessons you can learn from small personable, friendly companies are actually quite easy for a larger firm to imitate. Why not let customers reply directly to customer service emails, for example? Why not provide customers with a person with a name and phone number they can contact with questions or issues? Is that really so hard or so costly? We don’t think so. We’ve learned that if you can anticipate peoples’ concerns and quickly dispel them, they are much more likely to be customers for life, or at least to offer enthusiastic referrals.

One of Ronni's great gift finds: Personal Fondue mugs!

Here's Ronni's article:

My 2013 Holiday Customer Experience Heroes
Lessons to Be Learned from Customer Support at Small Companies: Standing Stone Farms and Geoff & Drew’s
By Ronni T. Marshak, EVP and Senior Consultant, December 19, 2013

(Read the short sample and download the full article in PDF.)