Tweet

Top 5 Tips For Good Customer Service

Written by: Chris Simpson

Article Overview: Even the best business ideas fail because they lack in the area of customer service. Customer service is the backbone and starting point for any successful business. How do businesses succeed?

Top 5 Tips For Good Customer Service

Even the best business ideas fail because they lack in the area of customer service. Customer service is the backbone and starting point for any successful business. How do businesses succeed? Ask any business owner and they will tell you because of their customers. Ask any customer why they visit one business over another and your answer will likely be customer service.

The following are the top five tips for good customer service.

Tip #1 - You Value Your Customers, Now Let Them Know It

Your customers want to feel as though you value them, they want to believe that when they contact you for any reason that you are going to be in tune with them, giving them attention, listening to what they have to say, and being respectful all at the same time. For a short period of time, your customer, when they contact or visit you, wants to feel like they are the most important person in your world at that very moment.

Tip #2 - Understand That Time Is Of Essence

Your customer's time is just as valuable as your own. When dealing with customers, make sure that you do everything you can to minimize their wait time, answer their questions, and refrain from passing the buck. If there is a question that you cannot answer, you should immediately find out who can answer it and refer the customer to that person. Refrain from passing the customer from person to person in efforts to find the answer, send them to the right person the first time, if at all possible.

Tip #3 - Know Your Business and Employees That Know Your Business

There is nothing worse in customer service than a customer who gets a sales person or operator who has no clue as to what they are talking about. You want to make sure that you, your-self, as well as any person working with you that must deal with customers have extensive knowledge of your entire business. This means every element from prices to products to services and all the way down to promotions, guarantees, as well as policies.

Tip #4 - Remain Cordial Even In The Face Of Anger

In customer service, you should expect to deal with difficult and demanding customers. However, you should have the ability to deal with these types of customers without losing your own cool, your respect, your attention, and your listening skills. If you are nice to them, chances are their attitudes will change while dealing with you. Make sure that you make every effort to resolve their problems and keep them as a customer in the future.

Tip #5 - Remember Why You Have A Job

Let's face it, if there were no customers, you wouldn't have a job, it is as simple as that. The customer is the total basis to your business, without them it wouldn't exist. Therefore, you have to keep them happy and be sure that you are providing them with good customer service at all costs. This means you need to answer their questions, help them in finding what they need, solve their problems, and meet their demands in a quick, but professional fashion.

When you want to provide good customer service in your business, the above five tips are the elements you need to be looking at and considering.

Related Articles
  Tips for Improving Customer Service
  Your Gift for Being Good
  3 Tips for Customer Service Excellence
  The Five "Be's" of Customer Service
  Top Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service

Article Tags: backbone, business ideas, business owner, clue, customer service tip, element, good customer service, important person, passing the buck, period of time, person to person, promotions, sales person, service customer, short period, successful business, time is of essence



Related Forum Posts
Re: Service Or Product? - I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical: 1. Researching that your Service business has a market. 2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible. 3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
Marketers, Learn What You Can, Cannot Control Online - I am a Customer Service Representative in my company so naturally every once and a while I get angry customers fed up with my companies policies. Oh! I remember one day on my way home from school I was walking by a gas station and there was a man with a huge cardboard sign outside a small car mechanic business telling people not to go there because they are crooks. I am pretty sure they lost tons of business. I know my mama kept away from there after I told her about it. I found it pretty funny. I wonder if the guy got arrested or fined though....
Wearing different hats in Business - I have a business that produces beautiful custom rugs for home and business environments. Different hats that I'm wearing... Rug Fabrication - 10 [i:21cr28m8](partially outsourced to an outfit here in the US)[/i:21cr28m8] Customer Service / Sales - 8-10 Bookkeeping - 1 Marketing - 6 Website development - 5 [i:21cr28m8](mainly outsourced)[/i:21cr28m8] SEO, SEM - 6-8 Accounting - [i:21cr28m8](outsourced)[/i:21cr28m8]
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT - Hi David, To add to your thread, I'd like to recommend Jonathan Tisch's "Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience". Tisch's book includes content on "Welcoming Customers", "The New Art of Customization", "The Challenges of Customer Diversity" and "Offering Something Extra to Your Customers" to name a few.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

TRADE SHOW FOLLOW-UP: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

International Employment Background Checks

What is an Adaptive Organization

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.