Ten Important Points To Note In Customer Service

The Customer is your Boss:

Never forget you’re in business to render service to Customers.  The Customer pays the bills and makes our employment possible.

Be A Good Listener:

Practice listening actively to your Customers, pay attention to what is being said, and how it’s being said (tone of voice, body language etc.), that way you can learn a lot from the Customer and be better positioned to offer assistance.

Anticipate And Identify Customer Needs:

By practicing active listening, you can identify an unspoken/unidentified Customer need, which you can solve. This opens opportunities for expansion of services (=more profit). Pay attention to recurring trends (enquiries, complaints etc.).

Get Regular Feedback From Customers:

By asking the right questions and listening actively to the Customer, you can learn a lot about your services and products as well as how well they meet up to the Customers’ needs.

Know How To Apologize:

Things will go wrong at one point or the other in the course of rendering services to people, it is important that you know how to apologize to the Customer at such times. Customers love it a genuine apology reveals just how much you value them.

Don’t Say NO, Unless You Absolutely Have To:

As much as you can, practice saying ‘NO’ to a Customer – Only as a last resort, when all other alternatives are not feasible. It is recommended you escalate the issue to your supervisor rather than say NO.
Unless you’re convinced the Customer request is not just possible.

Make Sure the Customer Clearly Understands the Product/Service Being Offered:

When offering/selling a product or service to a Customer/prospect, always ensure the Customer understands the product and what he/she can benefit from it.

Never allow the Customer to assume, this might lead to unrealistic expectations on the Customer’s part and a negative experience in the long run.

Make The Customer Feel Important And Appreciated:

People will only do business in places where they feel good spending their money or time. It is important that each Customer feels important and valued whenever they visit any of your service touch points. A warm greeting and courteous service often does the trick.

Go Beyond The Call Of Duty At Every Opportunity You Get:

All businesses exist to fulfill their Customers’ expectations, therefore exceeding Customer expectations is one way to rise above competition. Trivial things like informing Customer about (new) products better suited to their needs, or physically leading Customer to an office will always make you stand out from competition.

Treat your Internal Customers well:

Organizations have a tendency to focus on their relationship with external Customers, but the relationship with the internal Customer is just as important. 

Internal customer service is a mirror reflection of the external Customer service. Improving internal Customer relations leads to increased productivity, better Customer perception & satisfaction, which inevitably increases profitability.