Gold Standard Service

[Silhouette]

I was reading Bruce's post, and read the bit where he says "We give everyone the same "gold standard" quality of customer service, whether they spend $10 or $10,000!"

Now I am not faulting his service or anything and actually this is not about Bruce at all (so let's not discuss poster service at all) but that statement in my mind posed a diochotomy. Certainly as a business owner and a businessman I understand the need to treat all my clients equally, as good as we possibly can if you will.

But the reality is, if I travel Business class I have paid more, so I expect better service. If I'm at a car dealership and am buying a car worth 5 times the value of the one guy next to me is paying, then sorry, I expect a level of service far better than, or should I say I would expect something extra. If I am building a house for a client worth $2M I am pretty sure I will drop everything to look after that client compared to the client who I am building a $10K wooden deck for. In all those cases you and I know it's not equal.

Now none of this is to suggest that services/products of a lesser value should or do generate poor quality service, but I am willing to bet that if you reversed that statement then it would be true to say that services/products of a higher value do generate better service. Hell in business I certainly use my buying power to ensure better service, better terms and a better deal than my competition, why wouldn't I? If you were honest and you were that high roller hitting downtown Vegas you'd expect the star treatment too.

The reality is I don't think there can ever be a level playing field when money is involved.

[CSM]

David, this is Bruce extraordinaire (and it works for him obviously!)

[Silhouette]

Like I said, it wasn't about Bruce per se just the statement made me think about it.

[Ari]

In my professional life, we had customers who might spend under $10 right up to clients who I won't name, but everyone will know of, who spent millions or tens of millions,
Did they get treated better than a pimply kid buying a used common penny for $2? Shit yeah.
Kid treated nice (by me, maybe not so nice by the boss) million dollar people, dinners, wine, the royal treatment.
Saying that, there were some big spenders who didn't like or want a fuss, and there was one drongo, who while it was a reasonable amount. Maybe around $50k, was demanding special treatment and didn't get it, much to the amusement of us workers, my boss's wife had never heard of Russell Crowe and wouldn't let us do anything special, haha, the look on his face, and the look on her face after she saw him on television a few weeks later.

So... I agree, it's bound to happen.