Top Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service

Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting most right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition. These Top Ten Tips for Customer Service will get you well on the way.

  • Be Your Customer
    Live the life of your customer and experience what they do. Stand in line, call your call-centre, soak up feedback.
  • Give Memorable Service
    Make the life's mission of everyone (yes, everyone!) to be customer focused - even those seemingly out of direct line of fire.
  • Have Product Available
    Generally, you can't sell it if you haven't got it. Work your systems hard and focused to get product there on time.
  • Listen Hard to Complaints
    Complaints are a wonderful gift - it is feedback of the highest order. Enjoy them and learn fast.
  • Enable Your People
    Enable and encourage your people to give an immediate and generous customer response.
  • React Fast
    Make sure that you and your people work with pace and immediacy with customer issues.
  • Be Systems Focused
    Ask, 'What would my customer think of this - would it give brilliant service?' If not, reshape the system fast.
  • Be Curious
    Encourage everyone in your team to overhear, be nosy, ask questions and feed back information from your customers.
  • Research the Marketplace
    Do more in your own business from what you experience as a customer elsewhere. Encourage your people to do this too.
  • Have Fun
    Have fun with your customers. It builds relationships. Relationships are business.

    Ten Tips to success, in an easy to use framework. Will you take up the challenge?

    Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-b usinesses-to-success.com/delighting_customers.html (Note to editors. This article may be edited for use in your publication or newsletter as long as a live link to the website is included)

    ...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Is Your Management Style Assisting or Hurting Your Business?

    Many times business owners can have significant differences in management... Read More

    Four Employee Behaviors That Can Kill Your Business

    I found it important to clarify for employees what "deal-breaker"... Read More

    Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part Two)

    In the first part of this two part article, I... Read More

    Innovation Management ? Emotion, Habit, and Culture can be Hard to Change!

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    Allan Kempert Discovers That Truly All You Gotta Do Is Ask

    A year or so ago, I met Allan Kempert. Allan... Read More

    Innovation Management: The Time Factor

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    5 Surefire Ways to Bring Your Business Objectives Full Circle with Technology

    All small to mid-sized company owners want to know where... Read More

    Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Have a Complete Agenda

    Most agendas for a meeting look like this.* Budget* Payroll*... Read More

    To Thine Own Self Be True--Its Better for Business: What Arthur Andersen Would Say to His Company

    As a child, you probably heard, "to thine own self... Read More

    Can You Sleep While The Wind Blows?

    Let me repeat a story I heard many years ago... Read More

    How to Hire the Right People

    One of the biggest challenges any business owner or manager... Read More

    Five Overlooked Ways To Hire Winners

    Here is a true story. My dentist did a "clinical"... Read More

    Basic Management Skills

    Recent studies have shown that industrial supervisors are working at... Read More

    Downsizing in Organisations - The Real Truth

    I've met and worked with many people in all sectors... Read More

    The Top 5 Signals That Your Business Is Running You

    Starting your own business is a great undertaking but running... Read More

    Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Providing Career Opportunity

    This article relates to the Career Opportunity competency, commonly evaluated... Read More

    Corporate Governance for Business Owners

    It is clear that good Corporate Governance is in the... Read More

    3 Simple Things the Best Managers Do - And You Can Too!

    If it's so simple, why don't managers all over the... Read More

    Innovation Management ? Reducing Hierarchy

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    Employee Discipline: How to Nip Problems in the Bud

    Are you uncomfortable with delivering disciplinary action, even involving employees... Read More

    Are You Cascading Your Strategy, or Fragmenting It?

    INTRODUCTIONThe typical approach executive teams use to cascade, or roll... Read More

    Management Training: Are You Satisfied With The Results?

    If you're not satfied with the results of your management... Read More

    Knowledge Management - Leadership Behaviours Which Encourage Knowledge-Sharing

    The concept of knowledge management or knowledge sharing makes intellectual... Read More

    Top 10 Things Every Business Should Provide for Every Worker - Including the Boss!

    Doing business and meeting the needs of workers is increasingly... Read More

    Knowledge Management - Keys to Successful Communities of Practice (Networks)

    How can I make my community of practice truly effective?How... Read More

    Management - Mary Poppins Style!

    Mary Poppins describes a style of management which has for... Read More

    Organizational Techniques - Tickler and Chron File

    One of the biggest problems we encounter in our consulting... Read More

    Build Rapport Fast! - Eight Easy Steps

    Building rapport is all about creating a relationship, in the... Read More

    Innovation Management ? forced into it!

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    Empowering Others - Giving Them Some Control

    It's been a pretty good weekend around the place -... Read More

    ISO 9001 the Process Approach to Quality Assurance

    What is the Process Approach to Quality?The ISO 9001 2000... Read More

    The Professor Makes A Minus Power Move

    If you think the power move has costs, consider the... Read More

    Terrible Meetings - Ten Ways to Spot Them!

    Sometimes, better than giving advice about how to run things... Read More