In today’s dog-eat-dog business world, the number one thing you simply can’t afford to lose is your skill to form successful relationships with all of your customers. The bad news? Many businesses seem to forget this golden rule.
How does one go about forming long-lasting bonds with clients and potential clients? Here are my top 3 customer service tips to help you have a more meaningful and successful relationship with them:
Customer Service Tip # 1: Always Remember Their Names.
Make them feel important. Use their name a lot. Studies have shown that people love to hear the sound of their own name. Just make sure you don’t shorten it or use a version they may not like. If you just cannot remember their name, try writing it down.
Customer Service Tip # 2: Engage Them In Friendly Conversation.
When dealing with clients, it is not always about making a sale or talking up your company’s product or service. Get to know them a little bit. Ask about their family. Or perhaps a recent vacation (this can be tricky depending on how regular a client they are). Share information about yourself. The bottom line is you want them to feel at ease around you. Let your personality come out.
Customer Service Tip # 3: Attend To Their Needs. Immediately.
Always return a client’s calls promptly. When they email you, always reply right away. Would you wait for hours or even days for a reply if it was you on the other end? Sometimes it is not feasible to spend all your working day answering calls and emails, so perhaps you can get someone else in the office to help you (or outsource this to a reliable company).
Handle each customer with tender loving care- it’s then you’ll definitely have a lot of repeat business come your way.
About the Author
Mike Moyer is a guest blogger and Director of Customer Service at Blue Dragonfly Marketing. Blue Dragonfly specializes in trade show giveaways and branded merchandise for Fortune 500 clients (since 2001).
Great advice that really does make a difference. As this video (http://www.upyourservice.com/video-theater/how-do-you-build-and-sustain-a-superior-service-culture) points out, it does take time to build and maintain a great service culture. Your three tips are perfect places to start.
The customer has never been more king than now, and not paying attention to your existing, potential and future customers is tantamount to business suicide. Great advice in this article.
There are some fantastic tools available and ways of ensuring you retain information on your customers to assist you in maintaining these details instead of just relying on the memory.
@Tom – good point about how the customer is king. Gone are the days of businesses treating customers like dirt without any repercussions. Customers deserve our love and attention. That is why they pay us!
I think these are great tips and easy to practice! I just went on a cruise and the staff on the ship always made an effort to know my name. Every time they called me by name, I was impressed and felt taken care of. It’s surprising how important the simple service tips can be.
@Sarah – a person’s name is such an important thing to each individual. When used correctly, it can really personalize your service and help build a bond with the customer.
Yup! I actually resent those businesses that treat people like bags of meat and money. This was amazing advice for businesses. Following the same train of thought, I found a similar article that talks about methods on improving customer service. Hope you find it helpful.
Thanks again for the insightful article!
@Rob – that’s an interesting visual: bags of meat and money. Customers are definitely more than that. Thanks for sharing.