“Customer care is the process of building an emotional connection with your customers, whereas customer service is simply the advice or assistance your business provides them. Customer care is less quantifiable than customer service and is more concerned with one-to-one customer interactions.”
In an ideal world, we should treat all our customers with equal care. And so we do. But there’s a special kind of customer with whom it’s possible to take an ordinary business relationship to a whole new level. This is the case with a small Italian Bed and Breakfast hotel, the LAGO SECCO B&B located in the National Park of Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga, Italy.
In 2017, the owner of this small B&B got in touch with our graphic design studio because they needed a complete brand makeover. Their hotel had been destroyed in the Amatrice earthquake of 24th August 2016. They were starting over with a few holiday bungalows. Were we interested in helping them?
For many businesses, good customer service is about creating a polite interaction with customers and covers the provision of information, refunds and support, and handling complaints.
Customer care is one step beyond basic customer service and is all about actually caring for customers, creating goodwill and an emotional connection.
Our brief as a graphic design company went over and above simple advice on colours and fonts. We listened carefully to the client’s needs, tried to answer their questions, and did our best to offer the right solution. We care about the success of their business.
We knew money was tight, and the job wouldn’t be over for a long time. It was a monumental task, but we couldn’t let down a client, especially at a time like this.
We prepared a branding strategy to maximize the few resources the client had. Step by step, we created a marketing plan based on Unique Selling Points. One of these was for the client to provide the best customer care possible, as evidenced by this testimonial:
(…) We arrived in Illica (…) Clementina comes to meet us with open arms like an aunt who has not seen you for a long time. She asks: “Have you eaten?” @riccardocoronati”
The warm and affable welcome provided by the owners of the B&B, and their willingness to go beyond the basic customer service to provide personalized customer solutions, won them the BOOKING.COM 2021 TRAVELLER REVIEW AWARD.
It’s been a long journey, both professional and personal. The lesson learned is about the importance of customer care. Good customer service can win your business good reviews, but good customer care is the best way to advertise your company. Good customer care creates satisfied customers, and getting recommendations from them will generate big returns.