10 Best Customer Service Tips

Customer service is definitely hard to come by in this day and age -- especially because many interactions take place over the phone or internet. An impressive 83% of UK business leaders feel that customers are the biggest driver of change and are the biggest pressure point for businesses today. So if your company still does business the old fashioned face-to-face way, it's best to review these 10 customer service tips. 

• Customer support starts with supporting your employees. If your employees aren't happy, they won't be giving outstanding customer service to your clients, so make sure you recognize their talents and accomplishments, and reward top performers.
• Your employees will treat your clients the way they are treated. If you ignore their requests or suggestions, they will most likely ignore your customers.
• Good customer service involves, first and foremost, knowing who your customers are. Get to know them, call them by name, say hello. It really works!
• Try to make yourself memorable. Even if you know who your customers are -- would they remember your name? Make sure to introduce yourself, be friendly, hand them a business card if need be.
• Pull out all the stops when it comes to treating your customers well. Over half of consumers would pay more for better customer service. So send a thank you card or a happy birthday email, or offer a special promotion, to your valued customers.
• Client engagement is a simple way to improve customer service. Greet your customers at the door, ask if they need assistance -- but don't pester them!
• The customer is always right. You've heard this before, but when it comes to arguing over why you are right about one thing isn't worth losing a customer over. It is six to seven times more costly to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer.
• Try to make their requests a reality. If they ask for something particularly special, try to do everything you can to meet their request -- they will be forever thankful and will not only become a repeat customer, but are likely to recommend your business to others.
• Make sure to actually train your employees in what good customer service should look like because if you don't, your customers will certainly teach them a thing or two.
• Ask your customers for their opinions on how your business is being run or how a particular product or service could be improved. You can even ask them for customer service tips. This is the most straightforward method for seeing how well your company is doing.

These customer service tips should simply be a guideline or a starting point to expand off of when training your employees, but you should start seeing an increase in business reviews and profits if you follow these tips.