Tip 6 – Build trust with your customer
| “Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”- Anthony Robbins |
Seek assistance when necessary. If we do not know the answer to a customer’s question, we should not try to fake our way through the inquiry. We should ask someone who either knows the answer or who may know someone who does. Our customers would rather wait for the appropriate answer than get a response based on guessing. Let our customers know how long they might have to wait for the purchase or information.
Tip 7 – See complaints as gifts
| “Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility… in the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have… is the ability to take on responsibility.” – Michael Korda |
If we receive a complaint, it is important to acknowledge and thank our customer for bringing it to our attention. A complaint is feedback letting us know that we can change or improve our product, service, or business solutions so that other customers do not have the same experience. We should ask the customer what they feel would rectify the situation. Perhaps we can offer another product in its place, a refund, or an additional discount on their next purchase.
Tip 8 – Be a role model of excellent customer service
| “The qualities of a great man are vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character.” – Dwight David Eisenhower |
Good quality customer service begins with you. Set a good example and teach others about good customer service in your daily interactions. Make eye contact and smile at the person you are doing business with. You will find it makes it hard for someone not to smile back. Address a person by name whenever possible. It helps you focus on the person you are speaking with and it makes the person you were interacting with feel good as well.
Tip 9 – Have an attitude of gratitude
| “The quality of your work, in the long run, is the deciding factor on how much your service is valued by the world.” – Orison Swett Marden |
We should thank our customers for contacting or choosing us to do business with. We should let them know that we are looking forward to serving them again in the future. We may extend our gratitude with a hand shake, a warm welcome or thank you when entering our business, offer a discount on their next purchase, or we may even host a customer appreciation function. When we show our customers that we care about their business and their needs, we can be sure that they will tell others about the service they received and more people will want to do business with us.