Customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and reduce prices to bring in new customers, but unless you retain those customers, you won’t be in business for long.

Customer service is all about keeping your customers happy - happy enough to refer you to their friends and family.

 

If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is:

 

1) Answer your phone. Make sure that someone (a live person) is picking up the phone when someone calls your business.

 

2) Don't make promises unless you will keep them. Think before you give any promise - because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

 

3) Listen to your customers. Show your customer that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

 

4) Deal with complaints. Givethe complaint your attention. It is much easier to keep a customer than get a new one.

 

5) Be helpful - even if there's no immediate profit in it. Givers gain…period!

 

6) Train your staff to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so they never have to say, "I don't know, but so-and-so will be back at..."

 

7) Take the extra step. People notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.

 

The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!