Best Buy customer service: ready to help you be unproductive

Timeliness is critical to delivering great customer service. But timeliness doesn't just mean responding to customers quickly. Timeliness can also mean understanding how external events affect customer needs and then tailoring service to meet those needs.

On Thursday, the the men's NCAA college basketball tournament begins. Across the country, the U.S. workforce will be hungry for information and scores. In fact, one report suggests productivity lost to the tournament costs U.S. businesses $1.2 billion per year. Best Buy put a tournament spin on its cell phone offers in its Sunday insert this week.

Best Buy also tweaked its messaging around its "Walk out Working" phone configuration program. (The "Walk out Working" program consists of Geek Squad members helping customers configure and personalize their phones before they leave the store.

"We'll show you how to put scores, stats, schedules and brackets at your fingertips" is a timely spin on standard customer service. It ties to the promotional theme and a customer need: staying on top of the tourney when away from the TV. Good customer service isn't just fast -- it also understands and adapts to customer needs created by outside events.