Customer Service - keep it to a high standard

Tips for good customer service

1. Understand your customer. You are in business to service customer needs, and you can only do that if you know what it is your customers want.
    
2. Be a good listener. Take the time to identify customer needs by asking questions and concentrating on what the customer is really saying. Beware of making assumptions - thinking you intuitively know what the customer wants.
    
3. Identify and anticipate needs. Customers don't buy products or services. They buy good feelings and solutions to problems. The more you know your customers, the better you become at anticipating their needs. Communicate regularly so that you are aware of problems or upcoming needs.
    
4. Make customers feel important and appreciated. Always use their name and be sincere. People value sincerity and it creates good feeling and trust.
    
5. Help customers understand your systems. Your organization may have the world's best systems for getting things done, but if customers don't understand them, they can get confused, impatient and angry.
    
6. Appreciate the power of "Yes". Always look for ways to help your customers. When they have a request (as long as it is reasonable) tell them that you can do it. Figure out how afterwards. However, Always do what you say you are going to do.
    
7. Know how to apologise. When something goes wrong, apologise. It's easy and customers like it. Deal with problems immediately and let customers know what you have done. Make it simple for customers to complain. Value their complaints. As much as we dislike it, it gives us an opportunity to improve.
    
8. Give more than expected. Since the future of all companies lies in keeping customers happy, think of ways to elevate yourself above the competition. Consider the following:

• What can you give customers that they cannot get elsewhere?
• What can you do to follow-up and thank people even when they don't buy?
• What can you give customers that is totally unexpected?
   

9. Get regular feedback. Encourage and welcome suggestions about how you could improve. There are several ways in which you can find out what customers think and feel about your services.

• Listen carefully to what they say
• Check back regularly to see how things are going.

Make sure that if you have staff, they are inspired to deliver the best customer service possible. If they are happy in their work, they will want to work well for you and they will care about the service that they give. Too many organizations customer service is one of the most challenging and neglected areas of management.

For customers the quality of customer service determines whether to buy, and particularly whether to remain a customer.

Customer service advice supplied at January 2010 Ellevate Networking meeting in Salisbury, Wiltshire, by:
Kirsty Paget of aprompt Ltd, website designers in Wiltshire; www.aprompt.co.uk
and Michelle Seaman, Inner Strength Coaching, Life Coach; www.innerstrengthcoaching.co.uk