Words of Wisdom

Best Practices:  Givers Gain  

Customer service is the lifeblood of any business, and the essence of good customer service is forming relationships with customers, but how do you form these relationship? All you have to do is ensure that you consistently do these things:

• Answer your phone. People want to talk to a live person. Get call forwarding, an answering service or hire staff, but make sure someone is answering the phone.
• Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them. Reliability is key to any good relationship. Think before you give any promise because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.
• Listen to your customers. Let your customer talk and show him or her you are listening by making the appropriate responses.
• Handle complaints effectively. By listening to the complaint, you may be able to please this one person this one time and position your company to reap the benefits of good customer service.
• Be helpful even if there’s no immediate profit in it. Assist customers as a sign of respect and service. The gesture does not have to be large to be effective.
• Train your staff to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous and knowledgeable. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is—and isn’t—regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough power to make small customer-pleasing decisions.
• Go Above and Beyond. Use the Golden Rule as your guide. They may not say so, but people notice when you make an extra effort and will tell other people.
• Throw in a bonus. People prefer to do business with a friend. Build customer relationships first.