When in Doubt, Consider the Customer

I have an interesting question for you: How many people are there between your customer and your CEO? Hint: As in golf, lower scores win. And as many of us find ourselves facing bleak numbers in the short term, it's worth thinking about what makes happy customers.
The problem with many businesses is that they have too many customer service firewalls in place. There is no accountability. There are no common complaint-routing protocols, and escalation procedures for getting things resolved are spotty at best. Many businesses think nothing of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on customer acquisition, but when it comes to spending on customer retention, there isn't any calculation on what it costs to reduce churn.
[ Check out The Gripe Line, InfoWorld's ongoing effort to expose and resolve reader problems with customer service. ]
Why is this the case? Aren't happy customers the best references for a business? And these days, unhappy customers have powerful tools at their disposal to carpet-bomb the Internet to tell their tales of woe.
How many of you have seen the Dell-laptop-on-fire video or heard the recording of the caller who tried in vain to cancel his AOL account for the better part of 15 minutes? And while there are some ways to defend against a rabid blogger, there is no better mechanism than to provide solid customer service to begin with.
I was reminded of the sad state of affairs with customer service when I tried to order new service from AT&T and DirecTV for a new home. First I tried to order via their Web sites. No go. Then I tried the phone number -- which on AT&T's Web site was outdated. DirecTV makes you hunt down the number. When I finally found the right numbers, I got the wrong department because I was calling from an IP phone that had a 310 area code, yet I live in St. Louis (I guess it is my fault for not having the "right" phone number). The service rep just terminated the call rather than bothering to help me with my DSL service. When dealing with the phone company, data is still a four-letter word.
Is something wrong with this picture? Contrast this with a local retailer who sent my wife a check for $2 because he overcharged her shipping expenses. Or the guy at my local garage, who told me I owed nothing because he could easily fix my car's problem and didn't feel right about charging me anything. When was the last time your mechanic did that? Both of these folks earned my undying loyalty and respect and got us as forever customers. What was the cost of that acquisition? Not a heck of a lot.
Right now many of us are being forced to revise our budgets or make contingency plans based on bleak forecasts. As part of that painful process, consider how many layers you've put in place and whether that structure actually makes your customers happy. A little thought could yield some pretty impressive improvements to your bottom line.