Customers Always Click First

With so much focus on technology theses days, some sites have been losing touch with what makes a company run: Customers.

Seattle’s Primus made a major move this week to remind businesses of the importance of their customers by announcing a national print advertising campaign with the tag line “Serve them Right.”

The company’s initial $1.5 million national print campaign is intended to reach key technology decision makers across the country.

Primus chose Welch Nehlen Groom to design the campaign which will convey in each advertisement how e-businesses can make satisfaction, loyalty, and happiness scaleable across their entire customer base.

The ads will target general business and information technology trade publications, as well as online outlets.

Primus’ software aims to address one of the growing problems on the internet: lack of quality customer service through websites.

A study conducted by Jupiter Communications suggests that the majority of sites are failing when it comes to customer service.

The report found that only 38 percent of the major websites that were examined responded to customer inquiries within one day.

Jim Giordano, Director of Marketing for Bellevue-based startup vcustomer.com, agrees that there are some major problems with today’s online customer service.

“Most companies look at customer service simply as a cost component of their business without seeing the real importance of great customer service.”

“Most websites will have a component where you can contact them via email,” says Giordano. “Where things can fall apart is in the abandonment of those emails by a lot of e-commerce companies and other brick and mortar companies.”

One solution, which vcustomer.com offers, is fast response to email inquiries and tech questions through email service centers and live online web chat.

“Customers want accurate and fast information, and they prefer it to be personal rather than an automated response.”