Top Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service

Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting most right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition. These Top Ten Tips for Customer Service will get you well on the way.

Be Your Customer
Live the life of your customer and experience what they do. Stand in line, call your call-centre, soak up feedback.

Give Memorable Service
Make the life's mission of everyone (yes, everyone!) to be customer focused - even those seemingly out of direct line of fire.

Have Product Available
Generally, you can't sell it if you haven't got it. Work your systems hard and focused to get product there on time.

Listen Hard to Complaints
Complaints are a wonderful gift - it is feedback of the highest order. Enjoy them and learn fast.

Enable Your People
Enable and encourage your people to give an immediate and generous customer response.

React Fast
Make sure that you and your people work with pace and immediacy with customer issues.

Be Systems Focused
Ask, 'What would my customer think of this - would it give brilliant service?' If not, reshape the system fast.

Be Curious
Encourage everyone in your team to overhear, be nosy, ask questions and feed back information from your customers.

Research the Marketplace
Do more in your own business from what you experience as a customer elsewhere. Encourage your people to do this too.

Have Fun
Have fun with your customers. It builds relationships. Relationships are business.

Ten Tips to success, in an easy to use framework. Will you take up the challenge?

Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-b usinesses-to-success.com/delighting_customers.html (Note to editors. This article may be edited for use in your publication or newsletter as long as a live link to the website is included)

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