There is an overload of products nowadays. That is a fact. Companies have a hard time finding new products that differ from others (think about cars, washing products…).
That’s why a lot of entreprises become more service-oriented. The focus is on offering a great service to the customers, more than focussing on the product itself.
A client today demands to be offered help, to get a decent warranty… To be treated as a king in other words. Hiring (key) account managers is a splendid example of how businesses use this trend and start pampering their clients.

Yesterday I had a very ordinary question about food. I decided to mail Equinox, a food producing company. My question had nothing to do with their products in specific and I hadn’t the intention to buy them, but there was no harm in trying, I thought. After half an hour I got a very clear explanation to my question. Astonishing. A company makes time to answer my question without the intention to sell something.
My reaction now? If I ever need food products, I am going to buy them from Equinox. If their service is so excellent to non-buying customers, it must be even more excellent to buying customers.

But not all entreprises get the importance of a good customer contact, on- and offline. About a month ago I tweeted that I was going to switch from Dropbox to Nomadesk (both cloud computing services). I immediately got an answer from Nomadesk. They thanked me for my trust in their service. I never heard anything from Dropbox even though I said I didn’t trust their product.
I get it. I am not important for them. I know that, but I don’t want to be treated that way. No costumer wants  to be treated that way. No matter how small or big their purchase is.

In my humble opinion it is time for companies and organisations to start realising the importance of customer contact.
Customers aren’t stupid and brain dead anymore. They know they have the power to decide which product or service to buy, and not the marketer/advertiser.
So companies, come out your ivory tower and start treating each customer as if he is important to you. Communicate, give support, listen to feedback and complaints…

Because whether you like it or not, customer is king and wants you to be his servant.