How Important is Customer Service?

What sets you apart from your competition? It is a question that is asked and answered everyday. There are many points of view and variables that come into play, but I want to talk about the most simple and universal of them all, customer service. This is a subject that has been debated for years. If any of you have ever bought or sold something then you know something about it. To me there is nothing worse than trying to buy something and dealing with someone who is mean or not helpful. Most companies today realize that this is a very important part of any business. Whether you sell products or services people today want to be treated with respect and kindness.

Customer Service is the one thing that every company has complete and total control over. I said it was simple, and it should be. However, sometimes in companies we have such strict rules in regards to returns, exchanges, promo pricing, etc., that using common sense sometimes fails us. Now to run a successful business you have to have these rules, but your employees also have to have the power to do what makes sense and keep the customer happy so they will come back. All you have to do to keep a customer is to make them happy, having said that you will run into customers that make unreasonable requests that can't be met. That does not mean you can't treat them with courtesy and find a way to keep them happy, and these people fall in the minority of cases. The key is that you have to have employees who sincerely want to be nice to people and help them.

In today's world customer service occurs mainly online, without any verbal communication at all. Think of your favorite websites, and why they are. Chances are you like them because of content and ease of use, both customer service tools. If for some reason your customer has to call, make sure they don't have to look for the number, and please have someone on the phone line that's willing to help. The online marketplace can be a little tricky without face to face interaction, so its important to anticipate what you customer will need at every turn. Whether its design, content, or navigation, build your site with this in mind.

My boss has a great saying we live by, "Take care of your customer, because if you don't, someone else will." Have a great week, and lets try to treat everyone as we would like to be treated.