Firms that specialize generally offer superior customer treatment than commodity merchants. Specialization permits more in-depth product knowledge and more informed buying opportunities.

But, specialization--by itself--is not enough. Specialization must be accompanied by superior customer service at every point of contact.

One of my favorite specialty merchants is a bookstore that specializes in photographic books. Each Friday, they send a wonderful HTML e-mail of the latest books to arrive, and they publish a beautifully produced catalog which is sent free to their customers.

The problem? They rely so much on technology that they don't have an "questions or comments" e-mail address on their otherwise excellent web site. And, they do not respond to mail sent to their "webmaster" e-mail address.

Customers are invited to download their catalog from their web site, but whenever I try to do it, I get a "corrupted file" notification. I have called this to their attention several times, but my e-mails have gone unacknowledged.

Ignoring bad news from loyal customers is a serious breach of
Guerrilla etiquette. Each time I'm ignored, I rethink my loyalty to the store and the hundreds of dollars I've spent there. All of my orders have been properly handled--but, if I'm ignored when I can't download their catalog, what will happen when I experience problems with an order?