Customer Service Tips

Consider the following customer service statistics:

• It costs 4 to 5 times more to get a new customer than to retain an existing one.
• A happy customer tells about his positive experience to 5 other people whereas a disgruntled customer will talk about it to 12 other individuals.
• A 2% customer retention is equivalent to profits made by 10% of cost cutting.

These facts just go on to reinforce the importance of customers for a business. The customer is the life blood of any business. It is the source of profits as well as effective advertisement. Here are some good customer service tips for a business to help it retain its customers.

10 Customer Service Tips

Customer Service Etiquette: Besides a good product or service, it is the way a customer feels when he makes business with you is what brings him back to you again and again. Greet your customers with a smile when they walk in. Make them feel important. Be at their call any time they want help. Listen to what they have to say. Try to accommodate their needs. If you can't, then politely explain the reason behind why you can't fulfill their requirements.

Listen and Deal with Complaints: There is nothing worse than a disgruntled customer. It doesn't feel good to listen to complaints. But when it is the customer, give him a patient ear. His complaint may just help you to improve your services. Take prompt action if the complaint is logical. Even if it is not, give him the benefit of doubt. Getting into an argument proving he is wrong and you are right is not worth losing a client.

Get Feedback: The best way to know whether customers are happy with your services is to collect feedback. Feedback helps an organization know the needs of the customers that are not being met and areas where they could improve on their services. In turn, customers would be glad to know that their needs are being valued.

Go That Extra Mile: Create goodwill with your customer by including a thank-you note within a customer's package. Send a birthday card or a congratulatory note on appropriate occasions. Go the extra mile to know your customer well. This is an effective technique of customer retention.

The Personal Touch: Do your customers recognize you when they meet you anywhere other than in a business environment? Communicate with customers when they least expect you to. Try to address them by their names every time you see them. Just enquire how they are doing. Maintain the personal touch beyond business hours. This is the key to good customer service. Let your customers know that you appreciate doing business with them.

Anticipate and Meet Needs: Customers appreciate if their needs are met promptly. If you are able to anticipate their requirements and make arrangements even before they are sought, a customer would have strong faith in your business abilities.

The Power of Yes: One of the useful customer service training tips is to never say no to a customer on the face. Listen to his requirement. His demand may be way out of line of the public policies of your business, but make an effort and see if you could accommodate the customer's need. Remember you are not changing the rules of business and exceptions can be made once in a while. Even if you know for sure that the customer's need can't be met, at least let the customer know that you tried.

Have People-loving Employees: People who love to interact with people make very good customer relations personnel. They are empathetic towards the needs of others and make patient listeners. They have good inter personal and problem solving skills that are assets in customer relationship management.

Offer Customer Service Training Programs: Holding customer service training programs improves customer-oriented practices. These programs reinforce the importance of client service and make the employees better equipped to handle customer related problems. Organizing these training sessions periodically enables one to keep the employees informed about the latest techniques to improve customer service.

Empower the Employees: It is not possible for the boss or the team leader to be present through each and every customer interaction. Some times an employee may have to take some decision without the approval of the boss. It is important to give the employees the power and confidence to act on behalf of the superior. For this, an organization needs to have clear guidelines about customer service.

The best customer service tips are based on making the customer feel valued and important, as business is not just about providing good quality products and services. It is about winning and maintaining customer loyalty as well.