Tweet

3 Tips for Customer Service Excellence

Guest post by: Ben Nash

Article Overview: Customer loyalty is fundamental to business success. But just supplying customers with a quality product may not be enough to keep them coming back; companies need to go the proverbial extra mile to ensure the customer is fully satisfied- or even better, "wowed".

3 Tips for Customer Service Excellence

Customer loyalty is fundamental to business success. But just supplying customers with a quality product may not be enough to keep them coming back; companies need to go the proverbial extra mile to ensure the customer is fully satisfied- or even better, “wowed”. This is the essence of customer service. So how can an organization ensure they are going that extra mile? Here are some tips to help build customer service excellence in your organization:

• Be proactive with customer service. For example post a frequently asked questions page or install a live chat feature n your web site. Be proactive - anticipate potential customer concerns and take action to address them ahead of time.
• Provide an ear for a customer’s grievances. If a customer is upset, take the time to listen to them closely - don’t brush them off. Respond to their complaint or concern in a personable way – the way you would like to be treated if you were a customer with a problem! The golden rule certainly applies in a customer service setting.
• Make sure to document customer complaints so you can track trends and patterns. This data will be invaluable for future taking of corrective action on the root causes of the problems.

It doesn’t matter if you are a large organization or a small entrepreneurial start up; great service keeps customers coming back, which is the key to success!

Related Articles
  Fostering a Superior Customer Service Culture
  Pursuing Excellence in Leadership
  In Pursuit of Excellence
  Tips for Improving Customer Service
  Are you inspiring excellence?

Article Tags: business success, corrective action, customer complaints, customer concerns, customer loyalty, customer service excellence, customers coming back, extra mile, golden rule, grievances, large organization, li li, live chat, quality product, rsquo, trends and patterns, ul



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: Introducing myself, Scott Allison and Teamly - Sure, no problem GT. Here is some more about me: I founded my first business in my spare time while at University and since then entrepreneurship and business has become part of my blood. I am motivated by the desire to lead and build a valuable business using culture and values as a core foundation and to make products that make a difference to those who use them. I love entrepreneurship, and am keen to assist others fulfil their potential, that’s why I am on the board of non-profit, The Entrepreneurial Exchange, which aims to help entrepreneurs scale their high-growth potential business. I am also a volunteer business advisor to 18-25 year olds at the PSYBT, helping young kids who are just starting out. Prior to Teamly I was the managing director of abica, a remarkable business telecoms provider. abica was an exciting place to be with a clear vision of the future, and during that time I learned how to build and manage a great team, developed the company culture and core values, repositioned and re-branded the business, and delivered a new set of products to enhance long term shareholder value and bring in new recurring revenue streams. I left in October 2009, coinciding with the company winning a prestigious award for Excellence in Customer Service, which recognised the quality of our offering. My goal with Teamly is to be the leading online provider world-wide of teamwork software to small and medium sized businesses. I think the product we have built is the answer to the staff management issues a lot of new entrepreneurs are experiencing for the first time. Teamly's core purpose is to help businesses be more successful, and their people more aligned and effective through use of our online teamwork software.


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

The Golden Rule of Communications

Why SEO is important for your online success

Fighting the Saw-Tooth Affect

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.