Customer service is a hot topic and can make or break your business. Consumers have little patience for poor customer service and easily get tired of waiting in long lines, trying to get a live person on the line, going through an interrogation to return something, or trying to communicate through a language barrier.

If you provide your customers with a simple, efficient, pleasant experience they will revisit your business over and over. More importantly, they will become a champion of your business and recommend it to everyone they know!

There are three secrets to good customer service; the first one we’re going to explore is knowing exactly what YOU want.

You are the captain of your ship and the visionary of your business, so you need to have a clearly defined plan for your business, which includes customer service. There are three main goals you need to consider:

1. It must be easy for your customers to do business with you. This can be accomplished through advertised discounts, kiosks, your website, and other technology-based programs to help them shop.
2. It is imperative that your customer feels appreciated and every transaction is a welcoming and pleasant experience. Your staff must be knowledgeable, approachable, kind and patient. Your customers need to feel like they are getting good value for their time and money. Perceived value goes far beyond the price of the products and extends to their overall shopping experience.
3. Change your mind set by asking yourself “How can I NOT afford to do these things?” This shouldn’t be a question of your business expenses, but making and keeping customers happy.

With these goals in mind, you must also take the following things into consideration when deciding on the actual programs and standards you will put into place:

• Share your customer service vision with the rest of your staff;
• Connect your incentive programs and bonuses directly to customer service;
• Monitor the level of customer service your staff is providing to your customers;
• Know when you can disregard the desires of your customers;
• Continuously focus on your goals.

This should give you a good foundation to start thinking about your goals for your business and how to build it to create a positive customer service experience.

If you’re having a hard time deciding on what this looks like for your business, please reach out to me so I can provide you with the proper tools and resources to assist you in defining the wants and needs of your company in relation to customer service.