Good word-of-mouth is hard to find

BusinessWeek has named top companies for customer service.  The top five based on this methodology are:

1 USAA
USAA keeps its promises, customers say. Ninety-six percent of home and 98 percent of auto policyholders report that USAA meets their commitments to call back regarding claim issues on time.  79% definitely would recommend

2 FOUR SEASONS HOTELS AND RESORTS
When a Four Seasons executive says the luxury chain has an “obsession to be perfect,” he means it. In 2006, just 2% of guests reported major problems with their hotel stay, halved from 4% in 2005. 60% definitely would recommend.

3 CADILLAC Automotive
Servicing a vehicle at a Cadillac dealer after the warranty expires is a top-notch experience, customers report. The brand scored at least 47 points higher than the industry average on all six related factors. 51% definitely would recommend.

4 NORDSTROM Retail
Nordstrom’s famed service levels didn’t disappoint our respondents. Customers ranked the courtesy of the Seattle-based department store chain’s people tops among all retailers. 57% definitely would recommend.

5 WEGMANS FOOD MARKETS Supermarkets
You know they’re good if customers rank the ease of returning things higher than Nordstrom. Wegmans received the best scores of any retailer for the ease of returning items to the store. 60% definitely would recommend.

Wow.  Am I the only one who finds it remarkable that all of these companies got all “A"s and “A+"s and yet in many cases, only about half of respondents would definitely recommend it?  Good word of mouth is tough to earn even when you’re extraordinary.  By contrast, bad word of mouth tends to be very ordinary.  It’s easy to earn and fast to spread. Just ask JetBlue.

It’s hard to find people who are good at spreading good news - and for us, that means it’s hard to find supporters who will - and are great at - evangelizing for us.  We’ve got a lot of people creating personal fundraising badges right now, though not everyone is as good as this at it. 

If you’ve got even one supporter who is great at good word of mouth, you’ve got a rare and priceless person.  Take very good care of them.  If you’ve got one supporter who’s mad as hell, take very good care of them, too.