8 Rules for good customer service

Good customer service is about bringing customers back, and leaving your customers happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others.  If you follow Susan Ward’s (Small Business: Canada) 8 tips, you can be sure that your customers will keep coming back for more.

1.  Answer your phone:  Get call forwarding or an answering service or hire staff. 

2.  Don’t make promises unless you will keep them:  Reliability is key to any good relationship.

3.  Listen to your customers:  Allow your customer to talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses.

4.  Deal with complaints. 

5.  Be helpful, even if there is no immediate profit in it.

6.  Train your staff to always be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.

7.  Take the extra step:  People notice when you make that extra effort.

8.  Throw in something extra:  People love getting more that what they thought they were getting, even if it’s just a smile.