Top 10 customer service tips

1. Hire people who have a service attitude. Some people simply enjoy serving others, their organizations, and even their communities. The spirit of service dominates their personality. This attitude of service has nothing to do with money or background, and people who have this attitude are not necessarily the most outgoing or bubbly. This type of person will move your business forward. These people make the best salespeople as well.

2. Make the customer's time with you an experience. You have but a few short moments with customers. You don't have time to complain about your day or anything else. Ask yourself, "How can I make their experience better?" Can I refer to them by name and how can I ask without being too aggressive? How can I control the environment in this company? How am I affecting their 5 senses? Exceed their expectations just a little with their senses and with your attitude to serve and please, and you will have created a memorable and compelling experience. Of course, all you really have to do is visit your competition, see what they are doing and then top them. But would that be cheating? No, that's comparative shopping.

3. Regularly inform all your employees about what's going on in your company. Employees need to know what's happening. What new products are you offering? When will they be available? What kind of advertising will take place in the next month? Will any physical changes be happening in your offices? Will new branches be add? The more they know, the better they can serve your customers.

4. Make every decision with the customer in mind. Ask yourself questions such as, "Do our customers like what we're doing?" and "Would our customers like this type of promotion?" Change the way you look at things from having it centered around you to focused on whether the customer would approve.

5. Make the customers an agenda item at every staff meeting. Present their point of view and ask these questions: What would the customer think of this? Would this move be fair to them? How can we serve our customers better or differently?

6. Empower your employees to do the right thing. And don't hold it against them if the situation doesn't turn out perfectly. That means giving employees the power to do whatever has to be done to make a customer's experience a WOW experience. They will make mistakes, but each time they will learn ? with your help.

7. Continually ask yourself how you can improve and add value. If you don't keep asking and pushing yourself, you'll start to slip behind the competition. Customers have more than one choice and your competition is aggressively marketing to them. They know what is being offered by others. Be ahead of the curve by asking what you can do to add value to your customer's experience with you.

8. Create an atmosphere of excellence. Let it be known that everything you and your employees do has to be the best, and you won't accept less. Remember that winning organizations are always raising the bar. If you aren't pushing to do better than yesterday, you will be left in the dust of your competition.

9. Continually do the unexpected. Have the reputation for doing the unexpected, and customers will always expect something different and exciting from your company. This doesn't mean that you have to have dancing clowns in your lobby, but having the same lollipops that everyone else gives out is not at all unexpected. Do something different. These are the things that customers talk about.

10. Never let an untrained employee have customer contact. Your employees represent you, your company, and your brand. Working with customers is the most important thing they will do. Give them the tools necessary by giving them adequate training to handle customers.

Margo Chevers, author of the book STOP the BS (bad service), has been providing sales and customer service seminars and consulting to a diverse cross-section of industries for the past 15 years. To receive her free 10 top tips for exceptional customer service, call (800) 858-0797 or email margo@margochevers.com.

---

Profit from a Customer Service Recovery Program

A client recently said to me: "Most days things seem... Read More

Putting The Service Back In Customer Service

The future of customer service is here. Technology has made... Read More

Making the Connection: Customer Relationships That Build Your Business

Have you ever wondered why you often find a coupon... Read More

Is Your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System Doomed To Fail?

"Right, People. Let's blast out that mail campaign we've been... Read More

Customer Satisfaction and the Service Business

The relationship between customer satisfaction and success of a service... Read More

How to Deliver Exceptional Customer Service

Having been in business a number of years, I'm amazed... Read More

Create Win-Win Deals With Your Competitors

In the competitive world of the 20th century, we generally... Read More

Responding to Complaints

It's possible that in the course of your business dealings,... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to See Customers Problems from Their Creative Side

Customer Service is a blessing and a curse; a blessing... Read More

Improving Customer Service

Improving customer service starts at the top - with us... Read More

3 Special Benefits Every Customer Wants

Every customer looks for 3 special benefits when they do... Read More

Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service

1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis.... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About How to Learn from the Complaints of Customers and Employees

Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a... Read More

Poor Customer Service - Are Your Customers Driving Away Other Customers

Every customer you have is a word-of-mouth advertiser for you.... Read More

Customer Service - Winning Customer Experiences

Winning Customer ExperiencesMuch research has been done on what the... Read More

Restaurant Owners ? How Important are People Skills?

You are serving great food. Your establishment is new, spotless... Read More

Why Cant Microsoft Make Soft Packaging?

Why is it that Microsoft wants you to buy its... Read More

Make Sure You Get The Customer Perspective

Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer... Read More

Moments That Matter

Many years ago, I was a first year apprentice assigned... Read More

How to Succeed in Business Without Compromising Your Integrity

I spent some twenty years in the corporate world, for... Read More

Increase in Customer Sales = Increase in Customer Service

One of the most popular questions asked in online business... Read More

From Scowl to Smile: 5 Practical Steps to Instill Exceptional Customer Service

Whether in a restaurant, a retail establishment, or the local... Read More

Empowering Customer Service Vital

It never fails to amaze me how many companies have... Read More

Passing the After-Sales Test

Some time ago a major UK food retailer decided to... Read More

Restaurant Scheduling for Success

- Excerpt from Richard Saporito's latest e-book "How to Improve... Read More

Treating the Customer Dissatisfaction Epidemic: How to Go Beyond Simply Masking the Symptoms

Corporations in every sector are spending more than ever before... Read More

Over Delivering Provides Big Results

Over promising is a problem only when you under deliver.... Read More

Wholesale Buyers Versus Retail Customers

Are wholesale buyers and retail customers really different? Frankly, there... Read More

Five Tips to Calm Cranky Customers

1. Tis the SeasonRecognize that everyone is frazzled during the... Read More

How to Retain Your Customers the Dish Network Way

Customer retention is vital to a business. If you cannot... Read More

Dont Eliminate The Middle Man - Add One

Today, there are situations when we actually add a "middle... Read More

What?s in a Name?

Different people call their Customers by different names. If they... Read More

Post Office, Incredible Lady Postmaster

There are two Post Offices that I routinely visit. One... Read More