By Atwine Jasmine
Excellent customer service is defined as service that treats customers with a friendly attitude and tries to resolve their problem or question as efficiently as possible.
It has a big impact on customer oriented businesses, and many employers ask potential employees about customer service in the interview process.
Excellent customer service is one of those topics where it is easy to speak in broad generalities. Sayings such as the customer is always right and service begins with a smile easily convey basic, unqualified principles that mask the fact that what defines excellent customer service will always be incredibly individual in nature.
Excellent customer service is a highly important part of every small business. Companies that are unable or unwilling to properly service their customers stand to lose them.
However, several key variables or characteristics set better service apart from mediocre customer service. A company that best demonstrates these excellent customer service characteristics will have a distinct advantage over its competition.
How to deliver excellent customer service for your business;
- Smile when greeting a customer in person and on the phone (and yes, they can tell if you are smiling over the telephone!).
2. Don’t turn away, walk away, start to make a phone call, or duck beneath the counter as a customer approaches. (We’ve all had it happen to us.)
3. The live customer standing in front of you takes precedence over someone who calls on the phone.
4. Never judge a book by its cover all customers deserve attention regardless of their age or appearance.
5. Leave food and beverages in the break room.
6. Don’t let chatty customers monopolize your time if others are waiting.
7. Call for backup support if lines are forming.
8. Never discuss customers in front of other customers (they’ll wonder what you’re saying about them once they leave).
9. Make sure customers receive everything they’ve paid for before they leave your store.
10. Smile as you are saying goodbye and encourage the customer to come again.
While quality service is inevitably in the eye of the beholder, a focus on universal principles can provide organizations a worthwhile starting point to providing a customer experience that surpasses expectation.
In evaluating what constitutes excellent customer service, two basic ideas apply to almost any business.