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Forgot Password?    New User? Poetry Business Music Humor Arts & Entertainment Movies Destinations Women Issues Home Improvement Dating Real Estate SEO Health & Fitness Investing Home Based Business View all Categories Welcome to iArticleBeach.com - Free Articles for Reprint. Add great content to your web site today! Articles » Business » Customer-Service >> View Article Customer Service Primer: 21 Tips for Service Excellence By: Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence! You don’t need a million dollar marketing budget or even a large staff to deliver great customer service. Whether yours is an organization of 1,000 employees or just one, you can deliver the kind of knock-your-socks-off service that will boost customer loyalty and grow your business. Here are 21 easy ways you can deliver great customer service: 1. Smile. Did you know that smiling takes fewer muscles than frowning? It is a universal sign of friendliness and transmits your desire to begin new relationships that can last a lifetime. 2. Learn and use the names of your customers. Take pride in knowing and correctly pronouncing your customers’ names. It’s a sign of respect and shows that you know your customers and value them as individuals. 3. Use magic words and phrases. In addition to hearing their names, customers love to hear words and phrases like “Yes, we’d be glad to,” “Consider it done,” “We’re sorry” and “Let us fix it for you.” 4. Say “Thank you!” This is perhaps the second most important phrase after “We’re sorry.” Thank customers for their patronage and referrals, and for taking the time and having the courage to complain. This is doing you a favor—now you know what to fix and why other customers may have left. 5. Look professional. Show respect for your customers by dressing the part. While attire varies by job and industry, looking professional will help you act more professional and be seen as such by others. 6. Ask questions. The skilled professional—whether in sales or service, management or on the front lines—asks questions to better understand customer needs, desires and fears. 7. Listen actively. Listen with your ears, eyes, mind and heart. Use body language to convey comprehension, agreement or consternation. Give great eye contact and avoid distractions, and let your customers know they’ve been heard. 8. Master phone etiquette. Learn to answer your phone with confidence, poise, sincerity and a caring attitude. Ask customers for permission before putting them on hold, and thank them for their patience. 9. Keep in touch. Building lasting relationships with customers means staying in touch throughout the year. Vary the mechanisms: phone calls, hand-written notes, e-mails, newsletters, etc. 10. Create a system for tracking and remembering key customer details to help you serve them better. Don’t tax your memory—write it down. 11. Cross-train your employees. The better your employees understand other roles and functions in your organization, the stronger your organization becomes. Teamwork and efficiency will improve and the negative impact of unexpected sick leave and vacations will be minimized. 12. Be a “customer for a day.” A great way to think like your customers is to become a customer of your own products or services. When you live their experience, you can review your own policies, procedures and protocols and improve them for your customers’ convenience and benefit. 13. Give something away. Often you can generate new customers through freebies, so identify something of value you can give to prospects. 14. Demonstrate a touch of class. Seize the etiquette edge through the classy way you value and treat your customers. When you treat customers like royalty, they will respond with loyalty. Find elegant ways to show your appreciation for your customers. 15. Empower your employees to “make it right.” Teach employees to use common sense in correcting mistakes and fixing problems customers bring to their attention, without involving you or their manager. Solving problems quickly makes customers happy, and it ultimately saves your company money. 16. Replace negative language with positive. Focus on the positive in resolving customer problems. Emphasize what you can do instead of telling customers what you can’t or won’t do, or what is unavailable to them. 17. Think about the lifetime value of each customer. A well-cared-for customer can be a customer for life, potentially buying thousands (or even millions) of dollars worth of products and services from you. It may start with something as simple as giving them a 10-cent part. Focus as much (if not more) on keeping existing customers as you do on attracting new ones. 18. Value Kaizen, the Japanese concept of continuous improvement. Always be attentive to improving all aspects of your business. This will help you stand out from your competitors and prosper over the long term. 19. Ask your customers what else and what more you can do for them. It’s that simple: Ask customers how you can serve them better. Many times your customers will offer insights into ways you can improve, expand and grow with them. But you have to ask, listen and act upon this information. 20. Honor the diversity of your customers. Learn about their culture, religion and values. Show respect and appreciation for their needs, preferences and desires. Don’t assume “one size fits all” because there is great variance by nationality, religion and even generations. Become a student of all these variables and more. 21. Give customers lagniappe — a little something extra. Apply the Cajun concept of lagniappe to give customers more than they expected…a treat, bonus or unexpected surprise. -- Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence! provides sales and service solutions through speaking. Hire Craig to help your professional organization or association aspire and achieve. Call him at (510) 547-0664, e-mail Craig@ExpressionsOfExcellence.com or surf http://www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com for more solutions! Total Views : 290    Word Count Appx. : 863 See All articles From Author

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Samsung toppled Apple as the world's biggest smartphone maker in the first quarter, helped by its line-up of Galaxy named devices running on Google's free Android software. The latest version of its flagship phone, unveiled this month, will first go on sale on May 29 in Germany before being rolled out to other countries. ... " target="_blank">Samsung gets 9 million preorders for new Galaxy phone: report 2012-05-18T00:31:05Z http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-ipo-did-twitter-crowdsourcing-just-us-closing-001152116.html Facebook IPO: Did Twitter Crowdsourcing Just Give Us the Closing Price? 2012-05-18T00:11:52Z http://news.yahoo.com/worlds-first-wikipedia-town-launch-wales-180553383--finance.html World's first Wikipedia town to launch in Wales 2012-05-17T23:57:37Z http://news.yahoo.com/news-summary-facebooks-16b-ipo-among-largest-234211767--finance.html News Summary: Facebook's $16B IPO among largest 2012-05-17T23:42:11Z http://news.yahoo.com/autodesk-1q-net-income-14-percent-234208569--finance.html Autodesk 1Q net income up 14 percent 2012-05-17T23:42:08Z http://news.yahoo.com/schilling-game-firm-cant-rhode-island-payment-233907239--spt.html BOSTON (Reuters) - The troubled video game company run by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling failed to make a promised payment to the state of Rhode Island on Thursday when it did not have sufficient funds to cover a check. 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" target="_blank">Europe-vs-Facebook group gathers comments in privacy battle 2012-05-17T23:04:46Z http://news.yahoo.com/more-twice-many-tweets-supported-gay-marriage-opposed-230200096.html The tweeting masses are on board with the cause of the moment, gay marriage, by a roughly 2.6-to-1 margin, according to a report from Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism. It looks at tweets from May 7, the day after Joe Biden became "absolutely comfortable" with gay marriage, to May 11, two days after Obama's announcement of his own support. ... " target="_blank">More Than Twice as Many Tweets Supported Gay Marriage Than Opposed It 2012-05-17T23:02:00Z http://news.yahoo.com/twitter-peanut-gallery-roasts-facebook-ipo-225416966.html On Twitter, Peanut Gallery Roasts Facebook IPO 2012-05-17T22:54:16Z http://news.yahoo.com/ea-must-defend-ncaa-conspiracy-lawsuit-223504450--finance.html EA must defend NCAA conspiracy lawsuit 2012-05-17T22:35:04Z http://news.yahoo.com/verizon-data-fans-pay-more-phones-223011120--sector.html NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless plans to make its data-hungry customers pay a lot more, either in service fees or smartphone prices, as it tries to cut costs and boost revenue from data services. The No. 1 U.S. mobile provider said it will eliminate unlimited data plans for all customers who upgrade their cellphone at a discounted rate, potentially driving more business to its smaller rival Sprint Nextel . Only customers who pay full price for their cellphones will be able to keep unlimited data service plans for a flat monthly fee of $30 a month. ... " target="_blank">Verizon data fans to pay more in service or phones 2012-05-17T22:30:11Z http://news.yahoo.com/4-steps-cultivating-online-trust-223001749.html 4 Steps to Cultivating Online Trust 2012-05-17T22:30:01Z

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