If Your Testing Lab Doesn’t Put This First, It’s Time to Move On

As a consumer, it’s easy to hear the words “customer service” and tune out. In fact, the market is so oversaturated with companies claiming to be the best or greatest in customer service that it’s easy to become immune to the claims.

Regardless – when searching for a laboratory to entrust your testing to, customer service should be at the top of your checklist. Yes, attributes like industry experience, breadth of influence, and quality of work are all vital – but the mistake consumers make is forgetting to choose a lab that prioritizes them (the customer) above all.

When you pay a laboratory for a service, you’re essentially saying “I trust you to make this worth the price.” Not only that, you’re entrusting the success of your company to them. And if customer service isn’t at the top of your expectations list, your needs will soon fall to the bottom of their priority list.

In today’s market, you have unlimited options. There are hundreds of laboratories that offer relatively the same testing. Because of this, the specific service you’re looking to purchase should not be any more important than how the company offering you the service makes you feel. When you choose to do business with an organization based on the way they make you feel, rather than solely on the product/service they offer – your business will benefit in the long run.

A lot can be said about customer loyalty. This is the ability for a business to build raving fans – individuals who will choose them over other companies offering the same thing, every time. We’ve all experienced this level of loyalty to a particular brand and it feels good, doesn’t it?

The company that won your business did something along the way to put you first and because of it, whatever you paid for their product/service was well worth it. More specifically in the testing world, what if laboratories were expected to meet deadlines, answer the phone, deliver accurate data every time and go the extra mile to make your experience excellent, rather than just good?

When calling your laboratory with questions, you deserve an answer. Not only that, you deserve a human on the other end of that call who understands your unique needs. This, explains Account Manager Joe Sloan, is essential.

“Being able to call your lab and have somebody actually pick up the phone is a game-changer,” explained Sloan. “Connecting with a person rather than a machine… just cannot be substituted. I have customers tell me all the time ‘Joe It just makes my life so much easier to have your personal number and know I can call you and you’ll pick up.’”

For Sloan’s testing customers in Tennessee, the ability to communicate with him on their time is why they’ve remained loyal. This communication expectation is something he believes all consumers searching for a laboratory partner should prioritize.

You can do everything to prevent a crisis – and it may still happen. Customer service shouldn’t have a closing time. And if your laboratory cannot meet your needs when the unexpected strikes, that puts your business at risk.  If you are working with a lab who either doesn’t treat your needs with urgency or fails to communicate when deadlines are compromised – you are not receiving the level of customer service you and your business deserve. Period.

The above expectations all rely on one thing – trust. Trust begins with integrity. Finding a laboratory to test your samples is the easy part, it’s finding one that places integrity before profit that can be more difficult. Trust is the foundation of customer service and if it is not at the core of your laboratory partner’s business model, then it’s likely time to move on.

When you decide to do so, Microbac may be the perfect lab to turn to. As the nation’s largest private, family-owned laboratory network – we’ve spent the past 50 years building trust by prioritizing integrity. Tap here to explore our vast testing capabilities. Tap here to contact us. Tap here to connect with us on social and tap here to explore the behind-the-scenes of our labs.

This document is not intended to provide scientific or other advice to be used in a specific fact situation and is intended for general information purposes only.  While we encourage you to share this document with others, this document or any portion of it may not be quoted, used in or referred to in another publication without our express permission.