Not long ago companies used to have a complaints department. (One could imagine the attitude of people who work in complaints department) Opening up of the economy and intensification of competition has changed the scenario by replacing the complaints department with the Customer Service department.

Progressive companies give more importance to customers than to even their Board of Directors, believing in the philosophy that only the customers of the company have the power to fire anybody by spending their money elsewhere.

Focus on Customer Service has not only done well for customers but has done better for marketers. It represents a great opportunity to build brand loyalty. It offers opportunity to every one in the spectrum, from Pan Beedi outlets to multi million corporate giants.

A Pan Beedi vendor could increase his store loyalty by improving the service, which he is offering to his customers. Beauty of Customer Service is that it does not cost a fortune. The Pan Beedi vendor has to do two things a). Smile and greet his customer and b). Moment he sees his customer walking towards his shop he could take out the customers' brand of cigarette (or variety of Pan) and hand it over to the customer as soon as the customer reaches the outlet. These small things would help him build tremendous store loyalty. Customers have given their verdict - all things being equal they would spend their money at the places where Customer Service is better. Also all things not being equal they would still spend their money at places where Customer Service is better.

Smart Corporates are grabbing this opportunity with both hands. I distinctly remember an incident, around 12 months back I returned a shirt to a garment retailer, which I had purchased from him. He asked for the bill, I insisted that I have purchased it from him and I have misplaced the bill, and requested him to pay back to me as per the price tag (sticker), he refunded my money. After a

week's time I found the lost bill and much to my chagrin I realized that I had purchased that shirt from some other retailer. I revisited him to undo the earlier transaction. At that time he told me that 'At my shop the customer is always right'. He has build tremendous amount of goodwill in my heart and since then I have made majority of my purchases of garments from his outlet, and not only this, I am spreading good word of mouth for him. A small investment from his side in Customer service is paying him rich dividends.

To effectively leverage the opportunity of providing good customer service and building goodwill, organizations must follow the following three-step process: