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5 Tips to Improve Your Company's Customer Service


Increasing the rate at which customers return to your business is a great goal for business owners, and retaining clients is not difficult if customers are treated well. Customers who receive wonderful service will not only come back to a business that has treated them well, but also spread the word about the business, to their friends and neighbors. This type of word of mouth advertising has much greater effect than the more costly methods of attracting new customers. 

The following five tips are paramount to good customer service and are well worth any investment required to implement them:

1. Keep It Personal

Every employee should be trained to treat customers in a friendly, non-threatening manner. They should be taught to use a polite tone throughout a transaction and to end all conversations with a special word of thanks. If an employee cannot learn to do this in a sincere way, he or she should be replaced immediately. An ongoing training program is worth the effort.

2. Obtain Good Help Desk Software

The help desk softwares available today can keep customer problems from becoming a huge liability to the business. Help desk software can be useful in the following ways:

• It allows the customer to settle the problem in his own time.

• It speeds up the resolution process.

• It lessens the need for additional employees.

• It tracks ongoing issues and unresolved problems.

• It lets the customer feel your concern for his troubles.

3. Keep your Word

Customers want to be assured they can trust the business with which they are dealing. Never fudge on a delivery date, repair time, or any other transactions that matter to a client. Generally, customers who are given the straight facts upfront will work with a business owner to reach an agreement, but those who feel they have been given fabricated information will never place their trust in that business again. It is also a great idea to get all sides of an agreement in writing in order to avert confusion.

4. Throw in a Freebie

Customers love to get something in addition to their purchase which is the reason why this technique is used so prevalently on infomercials. Whether you offer free shipping or a free sample of a product, customers are drawn to these additional gifts. This engenders loyalty and usually results in more word-of-mouth advertising to their friends.

5. Respond to Customer Comments and Suggestions

Although most customers are not aware of the complexities of running a business, they do know what they desire when shopping for a product. Customer feedback is invaluable. Use every method available, from personal conversations to suggestion boxes to elicit the opinions of your clients. Then, consider each request or comment seriously and implement the necessary changes to improve your customer service.

Successful business owners work hard to keep their financial house in order, but some neglect the very base of their business by not taking customer service seriously enough. Those who concentrate on making their current customers happy will not only thrive during the good economic times but also will survive the times when the economy is struggling.

This is a guest post from Sarah Peterson, writer for a help desk software review website that offers business owners advice on choosing the software that will best help them improve their customer service.
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