Now Hear This - Happy Customers = Evangelists

When my husband leaves for work in the morning, I am seldom awake, let alone coherent.

So, when he returned to the house this morning just moments after heading out to the car to leave for work, I was startled.

Perhaps that's an understatement. I was scared witless. Think of the "Lost in Space" robot with arms flailing, shouting, "Danger, danger!" - but with half-slit eyes and bedhead.

Not a pretty picture.

After taking a moment to bring my pulse back to a more normal rhythm, I got the details on what had happened. As it turns out, he had mistakenly left our car unlocked overnight - and subsequently, our satellite radio was stolen.

Crappy way to start out a Monday, no matter who you are.

We phoned the police, who quickly arrived and took a report - not that they can really do anything about it. A few minutes later, John headed out for work, minus the musical diversion of Radio Margaritaville.

Now, here's where the story gets interesting.

Once he got to work, John phoned SiriusXM radio to report the theft, and have the service cancelled on the radio. He fully expected to have to purchase another radio - and, while not a huge expense, the notion did add a certain amount of insult to injury.

Much to his surprise, SiriusXM offered to replace the radio, at no charge. While I am not sure if this was because we are long-standing customers, or if this is standard procedure - but either way, we were pleasantly surprised - and relieved.

Knowing this, it should come as no surprise to anyone that both John and I tweeted about our experience this morning - sharing our praises of SiriusXM with all of our followers. We were already loyal customers - having purchased radio service for ourselves, and both sets of parents. I think it's a safe bet that we will be lifelong customers now.

SiriusXM made a smart marketing decision this morning. Regardless of their actual cost on the replacement radio, they scored big with us. We're happy, and we are keeping our service. But more importantly, happy customers become customer evangelists - a fact that has been multiplied exponentially by social media.

So here's the takeaway - it is easy to drop the ball on customer service in the frenzied pace in which we live. But make no mistake, those subtle nuances can make a huge difference to your bottom line. It costs less to keep an existing customer happy than it does to find, qualify, and cultivate a relationship with a new one.

Make a customer happy today, and they will become brand evangelists for you tomorrow. I don't know about you, but that is music to my ears.

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