Customers Are Always ...

By Katherine Bonfante, Managing Editor, Digital Media

If you deal with customers every day, be it face-to-face, on the phone or through email, I'm sure you have heard the phrase, the customer is always right. However, is this really so?

Customer expectations don't always match your customer-service policies and many times the customer expectations are not met as promptly as customers would like them to be met.

In this technological age, if your business' technology is not current, many of your technology-savvy customers probably will not be pleased with the customer services you offer.

In our machine builder world, end users are very pleased. Read Executive Editor Jim Montague's article,"Greater Expectations." Here, Montague takes a look at how machine builders meet and exceed end users' wants. What's more, the article touches on how well machine builders meet end users' needs. Read the entire article at www.ControlDesign.com/meetneeds.

There are some occasions when those customer demands are hard to meet. It could be that the requests are unrealistic, the wishes require technology not available yet, or it might take longer than usual for a business to meet the client's demands. No matter what, the customer is always right and businesses should try to please consumers at all times.

In January 2009, we published"Get a Grip on Machine Performance."It discussed how machine builders sometimes have a hard time keeping overly inflated customer expectations under control. Yet, somehow machine builders help their customers' dreams come true.  Read this article at www.ControlDesign.com/getagrip.

This promises to be the year when the current recession comes to its end. Many businesses know they survived the recession by offering exceptional products and customer service, and it is the customer service that will attract new business in the years ahead.

Today's market is a buyer's market, and companies compete for our business all the time by offering lower prices and promising excellent customer service, and they had better deliver on those promises. There is no greater satisfaction than receiving what was promised, better yet when the service is extraordinary.

As a service provider, what are you doing differently this year to meet your customers' demands? Join the Machine Builder Forum conversation at www.ControlDesign.com/expectations and tell us how well you plan on herding your customers' expectations.

When it comes to ControlDesign.com, know that this year I'm doing my best to offer you a remarkable online experience. When you come to our site just remember that on the other side of the screen, I'm working hard posting videos, articles, news, whitepapers, product releases, blogging, tweeting, facebooking and answering your inquiries efficiently and quickly.