Good service makes a good brand

The core of Dell's entire business is how to maintain a closer relationship with its customers.

For electronic product companies, the quality of customer service plays an important role in the process of building brand value. As one entrepreneur once said: "Never forget what you and your company are for, it's an industry that meets customer needs and serves customers".

However, building a successful brand is undoubtedly an enduring marathon. We have long passed the era when customer service was equated with after-sales maintenance. At present, in the face of consumers with different needs and situations, it is becoming more and more difficult to achieve perfect customer service. What should companies do? Recently, the latest survey results of "CEConline" show that among foreign electronic brands, Dell is highly praised by most consumers in terms of customer service, while in terms of domestic brands, Haier is one of the best. What makes them so popular with consumers? How can Haier and Dell achieve high customer satisfaction? With these questions in mind, we conducted some research on the customer service of these two brands, hoping that the experience of these two companies can give inspiration to our peers.

Dell, keeping close to consumers

As a computer supplier that started with a direct sales model, Dell has maintained close communication with consumers from the very beginning. Even in recent years, in order to adapt to the characteristics of the Chinese market, Dell China has begun to gradually change the original sales model, such a tradition has not been lost.

When did customer service begin? Dell tells you, before the deal happens. Relying on the industry's leading online service, telephone service network, consumers can get the maximum degree of personalized service from Dell's customer service staff.

“Dell’s online service is great,” one customer told the author: “When I entered the online service system and said I wanted to buy a laptop, the customer service person who first greeted me connected me to a special The customer service consultant in charge of this matter. The customer service staff after that will recommend the most suitable product according to your specific situation. He recommended me an entry-level business machine with basic configuration. What's more gratifying is that when he learned that I felt that the price of the product was too high, he also took the initiative to suggest me to choose Dell's installment payment business. During the whole service process , Dell's customer service staff are very professional and patient."

In fact, this kind of service happens all the time. At present, Dell has three customer service centers in China, and thousands of customer service staff provide more than 16 hours of service every day. Through such a professional and efficient service team, most of the problems of consumers can be solved in the first time.

In addition to being close to consumers in telephone services and online services, Dell has also invested heavily in the construction of physical service outlets in recent years. During the interview, we learned that in order to ensure the realization of good customer service, Dell has set up more than 200 repair service centers and 1,000 repair service stations nationwide. Among them, maintenance service centers are mainly distributed in first- to fourth-tier cities, while customer service in fifth- and sixth-tier cities is handled by maintenance service stations.

In fact, the establishment of such a large-scale and deep service network also has an important relationship with Dell's development in China's vast small and medium-sized towns and even rural markets in recent years. "From the perspective of future maintenance network expansion, Dell believes that the focus of development in 2011 is to be close to consumers in small cities and rural areas in China." Dell's relevant personnel said in the interview.

In Dell's view, those service outlets that go deep into the grassroots level not only play the role of maintainers, but in fact, they all undertake the mission of conveying Dell's brand philosophy and narrowing the distance between Dell and consumers. In some rural areas, Dell will carry out technical lectures on computers going to the countryside, providing free computer training for farmers, so as to help farmers master information technology, and at the same time to win potential customers, it also maximizes Dell's brand image.

From the initial direct sales model to the channel market after entering the Chinese market, Dell seems to have undergone tremendous changes. For such changes, Min Yida, chairman of Dell Greater China, once explained: "The reason why There is such a change, because we hope that users can easily buy our products no matter where they are. But we still insist on different feelings from our competitors, for example, we still provide direct sales channels in the channel and retail industry, and will provide press For customized services, users can choose the configuration, color, and even their favorite music can appear in customized products. The core of Dell's entire business is not channels or direct sales, but how to have a more intimate relationship with users, how to Enable a better customer experience."

Haier, Consumer Focused

When it comes to Haier's customer service, almost everyone will think of the "Story of the Sweet Potato Washing Machine". Haier's consumer-centric service concept has been deeply rooted in consumers' hearts.

Haier elevates customer service to a strategic level. Zhou Yunjie, executive vice president and global chief marketing officer of Haier, said that Haier will realize the transformation from waiting for customers to come to the door to serving customers. "In the past, it was selling products, but now it is providing consumer solutions. Originally

Haier sold washing machines, and now it wants to provide laundry solutions; it used to be market-centric, and now it wants to realize service entry, and users are satisfied. Pay later, so that the product is no longer a cold product, but a humanized solution." Similar to Dell's service, Haier's customer service also begins before the sale, and it is particularly important for them to grasp and realize consumers' demands. important.

Haier adheres to the product development mechanism of coming from the market and going to the market, interacting with consumers through various channels, and allowing customers to participate in the company's technology research and development, product production and marketing. Beginning in October 1998, Haier established the "User Problem Award" to reward users who made rational suggestions to Haier. With this kind of interaction mechanism, Haier has achieved an accurate grasp of consumers' needs and truly realized the concept of products serving consumers.

Good pre-sale service allows Haier to accurately track the pulse of consumers, and the perfect after-sale service system will undoubtedly greatly enhance consumers' trust in Haier, thereby enhancing the brand image. An important reason why Haier can achieve this is that it treats after-sales service as a part of the industry chain.

In the past, sales was the end of the entire industry chain, but Haier has extended this industry chain to the end. So far, Haier has established a service network consisting of more than 1,000 star-rated service centers, more than 6,000 community service points and more than 20,000 professional maintenance personnel in the domestic market.

The huge coverage allows Haier to achieve the closest contact with consumers. In 2010, the cumulative sales of household appliances going to the countryside reached 173.2 billion yuan, and Haier's sales exceeded 30%, which was largely due to its deep rural service network.

On the one hand, consumers are familiar with Haier through these networks. On the other hand, the highly perfect service network also makes consumers feel that they can get more timely services after purchasing products.

With the full coverage service network comes Haier's well-known service. Taking Haier's air-conditioning cleaning service as an example, the first thing the service personnel do after they come to the door is to hand over a Haier door-to-door service announcement card, which clarifies Haier's commitment to serve once. At the same time, it also indicates the five services that the on-site service personnel should do for users, including: safety testing, explanation and guidance, product maintenance, one-stop product inspection and on-site cleaning. In addition, the card also clearly states that consumers can take complaints if they are dissatisfied with the above services.

With the help of high-efficiency service quality and full-coverage service network, Haier has enhanced its brand value while achieving successful customer service.

In fact, although the paths adopted are not exactly the same, we can still see from the successful practice of Haier and Dell, the two companies in China, China, and Oceania, that they are in close contact with consumers and meet their needs. , is undoubtedly a good strategy to achieve good customer service.