Face it, without customers, no business would survive. Without good customer service, a business can prosper for a while, but as soon as possible, the people who gave them money will find someone else to deal with. Customer service isn’t a difficult thing to understand. We have all been customers and we all know how we like to be treated. The trick is, no matter what, make sure to not let anything get in the way of treating your customers right.
Communication is key. When a customer calls, they want to speak with a happy voice, not a tin-can answering machine. Make answering the phone a priority within your company. Even if you have longer than normal business hours, have someone to answer the phone anytime you are open. It’s better to be available 24/7, but this isn’t always realistic. Some ideas for if you want to make this happen include using an answering service, or forwarding your calls to your cell phone after business hours.
While answering phones is important, it should never come between you and a customer in your store. Look at it this way, who should get your attention: the customer on the phone, or the customer who made the trip and physically walked through your door. If you find yourself between these two kinds of customers – and hopefully you will most of the day - simply excuse yourself, answer the phone, and ask that you put them on hold because you are with a customer at the moment. They will understand on the phone and the customer in the store will appreciate your deference.
Like phones, emails are communications that must be handled in a timely manner. Make it a point to never let an email sit without response longer than a day. If there isn’t really a need to reply for several days, it’s still polite to shoot a quick email saying you got their email and are taking care of the matter.
Respect is what keeps customers happy and you can show respect in many different ways. For example, if you say you are going to be somewhere or do something at a certain time, then move heaven and earth to make that happen. Listening is another form of respect. Especially when a customer comes to you with a problem, most of the time they just need someone to listen to them. Pay them the respect of hearing them out. They will appreciate it and your business will too.
