Customer Service Fans

Customer service fans can become your biggest allies in building a great business, however most companies do not deliver good enough service to build these fans. Most businesses deliver acceptable customer service at best and at worst they deliver horrible service. The creation of customer service fans is hard and demands that your company improves its customer service. 

When I talk about fans of your business, I mean the kind of fans that will rave about your business to anyone who will listen. The conversation will often start out by saying; " I received the most amazing customer service from this business." Then the customer will tell this story about what great service they had from that business, which will make a very good impression on the person hearing the story. So now the person which heard that story will have a very positive view of that business, which causes the person to visit that business with a very positive outlook.

It will take a lot of hiring and training of the right people to create this exceptional customer service within your business, however the rewards will be great. One important point is that your company will need to pay competitive wages to make sure you keep your staff, so they can build positive relationships with the customers. It is through these positive relationships which will create great customer service and allow staff to implement proactive customer service to further enhance the customer experience with your company. Staff turnover is not good for business, as it increases training and recruitment costs, and the business to customer relationship will suffer. 

When potential customers hear stories of great customer service from trusted friends, they will be much more likely to visit that business. Also, when you start creating customer service fans, your business will strongly benefit from this positive word of mouth and will develop a very strong and loyal customer base.

Exceptional Customer Service Creates Raving Fans

This is a quick story about some great customer service I received from the local cafe. We often hear stories about other people experiencing exceptional customer service but often we receive just average customer service. This story is a great example of proactive customer service that went well beyond the normal level of customer service.

The story begins by me going to the local cafe and ordering some coffee and asking for a glass of water. Now, I often ask for a glass of water but often just get a small glass of water, so I end up having to ask for a refill. This is not a big issue, but it would be nice to just get a big glass to begin with, thus saving me some time by not having to get a refill. So I receive my coffee and a small glass of water is put on the end of the counter for me to pick up after I put some sugar in my coffee. So then I go back to the counter to get my water and to my complete surprise the water is gone. I thought someone else had taken the water by mistake, but instead the coffee staff had taken my water and put it in a large glass with some more water. You can imagine my surprise at this great display of customer service, this is the kind of surprise that should happen more often to customers.

The staff were very proactive by changing the small glass into a large glass, thus saving me from asking for a refill. Anyone who has been out on a hot day and goes to a cafe looking for some water will appreciate a large glass of water. Can you imagine if more customer service was this proactive and how it would result in creating raving fans out of your customers. Create a customer service buzz for your business by training staff to be more proactive and see how customers can become raving fans of your business.

Engaging Customer Service

Does your business have engaging customer service? How can you engage your customers so they will continue to be loyal customers? The answer lies in social media, and all the various ways these websites allow your company to interact with customers. The two biggest websites that can be used are Facebook and Twitter, which allow strong levels of interaction between companies and customers. 

Facebook pages are great for branding and allowing customers to interact with your company. However, this post will focus on Twitter and how it can enhance your customer service. Twitter is a very simple website to use that can allow customers to interact with your company. Twitter is short and to the point, so the information is very concise, which saves people from having to read too much information. Twitter will allow  your company to post daily relevant information about your business that can benefit customers.

For example, if you have a restaurant , you could post daily food specials or end of day specials to move your food inventory. The other great benefit is the way Twitter can allow your company to deliver great customer service by interacting with your customers on Twitter. The customer service department will have to monitor your Twitter account to see when your company is mentioned and respond to any customer concerns or questions and followup as needed with the customer. 

Since Twitter works very well on mobile phones, it will allow customers to mention things about your business that they otherwise might never mention to your company. Also, using Twitter is like sending a simple text message, it will take very little time for your customer to send off a message to your company, which makes it more likely the customer will actually interact with your business. One of the goals of your social media plans should be to make it very easy for your customers to interact with your company and provide you with valuable feedback that can be used to improve your company. This engaging customer service will allow you to build a loyal customer base that will benefit both customers and your business.

Complaints Can Be Building Blocks For Success

All companies will get complaints, but it is how you respond to those complaints, that will make a business very successful. Companies need to view complaints as opportunities for valuable customer feedback that can provide great opportunities for the business to make positive changes. Use these complaints as building blocks for success in your business. The feedback that you receive from customers can provide you with great ways to improve your business. 

There are many methods to solve complaints from customers, so each company will have to design there own plan on how to ensure all complaints are resolved and are put to use for improving the company. I will leave the actual complaint resolution process to the individual companies, as each company is unique and will need to custom make their own resolution process. The main thing is that companies need to improve their complaint resolution so that they can learn from their customers and build a loyal customer base.

The added benefit from improving customer service is that you will build great word of mouth advertising that will produce many new customers from all the positive referrals. Trusted referrals produce great customers because the customer already has a positive view of the company before they go to the business. Your company may even save on marketing costs as you find that you are getting a lot of new customers from the great referrals. 

The basic idea of delivering superior customer service is to turn your customers into raving fans of your business, who will then become great promoters of your company. Once you start viewing customer complaints as building blocks for the success of your company, you will then be on the right path to building a great company.

Smiling Customers Equal Happy Customers

The smile, it seems very simple and easy to do, but often  its hard to find when you first go into a business looking to make a purchase. All companies want happy customers, but fail to have their staff deliver the most basic item of customer service called a smile.


Smiling staff send a great signal to customers, that we are happy to serve you and enjoy helping customers. How often do you go into the store and all you see are frowns or very disinterested looks from the staff.  It makes you wonder if the staff even care whether or not you bring in your business. The staff do not seem to realize that if customers do not continue to come into the store, they will be out of a  job.


Customers are the life blood of any business, so why not give them the most basic level of customer service, by smiling. 

Customers Are The Real Bosses

The idea that the customer is the boss is not new,  but it seems like most customer service does not recognize this fact. Sometimes you can go to a restaurant and it seems like the staff are very disinterested in serving customers properly.


For example, I went to a restaurant the other day when it was hot outside, and the hostess brought us to our tables and she was friendly. However, when I asked if I could get some water right away, the hostess said the server will be around soon. The issue is that, the restaurant was very slow, and the hostess was just standing around, plus the server came to our table in around 5-10 minutes. Why on a hot day does a customer have to wait for so long for water? Then the server comes and proceeds to mention the daily specials, and I say can I get some water. The server then asks if they can  first tell me about the specials, so I let them finish, and still have to wait a long time to get some water.


You would think that common sense would tell the server to bring some water with them to the table. Also, why could the hostess not bring some water, or at least tell the server to bring some water. I can tell you that if the server saw their manager or boss just come from outside on a hot day, they probably would make sure they bring water promptly. Staff need to think of customers as their bosses rather than just bothersome customers. The customers are the reason the staff all have jobs and are the people that need to be treated well, to ensure they are happy.

Surprise Rewards Will Build Loyal Customers

Everybody likes a surprise, but when it comes to customers, they really love a good surprise that will make them remember your business in a good way. Most businesses will do just enough to keep a customer happy, but that is not enough to really impress a customer. When you provide the unexpected surprise to the customer, it creates a very positive impression, which causes the customer to tell all their friends. Most people expect average customer service, but when you deliver surprisingly great customer service, you will get people talking, which will create very positive word of mouth for your business.


Now, the actual ways that you will have staff provide surprise rewards will vary from business to business, but it will all start with proper staff training. The key will be to empower staff to provide a special surprise to customers. The business will need to determine some basic criteria, that will give staff insight as to how they will surprise the customer. Some criteria could be the size of purchase or how loyal the customer is, but it should easy enough, that the staff can quickly recognize a situation in which they should surprise a customer with some reward. 


The rewards that will be offered will vary from business to business, but should provide some good benefit to the customer. For example, you might have a restaurant and know that this is a ten year old loyal customer, why not surprise them with a free meal. Cleaning companies could provide a free cleaning every so often to their customers.


The main point about these surprise rewards is that because they are unexpected, the customer will be more impressed, leading them to generate very positive word of mouth for your company. 

Its Not The Mistake, Its How You Fix The Mistake

There are so many customer service mistakes everyday, that you would think they are impossible to avoid. Mistakes will happen, so the key will  be to correctly detect mistakes as soon as possible, so that they can be corrected right away. I will go over a couple of common mistakes and how to correct them. If customer service mistakes are corrected quickly, you actually have the chance to build strong customer loyalty.


I am going to begin with a very common mistake, failure to get the service request correct. How often have you gone to the restaurant and had the staff get the order completely wrong, and then the staff do not seem too concerned about this mistake. The mistake may have happened due to the staff not listening or miscommunication, either way it needs to be corrected right away so that the business keeps the customer happy. Staff need to apologize right away and then proceed to correct the issue, and then followup with the customer to ensure they are happy.


One other common error is how companies resolve customer complaints. Customers want fast action when it comes to resolving issues, but often are left very frustrated by the staff, who sometimes are not very helpful. First off, the staff need to listen closely, so the customer knows they are being heard and that the staff fully understand the nature of the complaint. Then resolve the complaint and follow up with the customer to ensure the issue is resolved.


When it comes to customer service mistakes, it is not the mistake, it is how you correct the mistake, that will make the difference as to whether or not the customer will remain loyal to your company. Make sure your company excels at solving customer complaints, as this will be a key factor in building your loyal customer base.

Build An Emotional Connection With Customers

Great customer service is a powerful marketing tool, that when delivered can be used to build an emotional connection with customers. Customers need to be treated as much more than just numbers because when they are treated like just a number, it comes across as a very impersonal approach that does not build customer loyalty. When a business builds that emotional connection to a customer, they will enjoy coming to the business and be much more likely to recommend this company to their friends. 


Since referrals are a powerful way to build a business, they should be encouraged by delivering superior customer service, that amazes people. Once people realize how great your customer service is, they will keep coming back. The emotional connection that is built through great customer service, is hard for the competition to defeat, because it takes a lot of work to build up a great customer service program. Most companies will simply try to compete on price or features, but that is not enough to keep loyal customers. Companies need to be committed to putting in place a quality customer service training program, that will train staff and encourage an atmosphere of delivering amazing customer service.


Now building this emotional connection will not be easy, as it takes time to train staff and become known for great customer service, but over time it will prove to be very valuable to your business.

Greatest Customer Service Skill: Listening

There are many skills required to be great in the field of customer service, but one seems to rise above all others, the skill of listening. You can have staff who are friendly and smiling, but if they do not listen, they will annoy customers. When the staff are not listening, it causes all sorts of issues that create unhappy customers.


Not listening causes the customers to have to repeat their requests several times, and even then the staff could get the order wrong. Having customers repeat their requests, causes a lot of frustration for customers and shows them the staff do not care enough to just listen. 


Staff need to show respect to customers and listen clearly so that the customer feels they are being taken care of properly. Listening is a skill which takes time to learn to do well, but over time, proper listening will become much easier. Also, the staff need to keep in mind that customers are the reason they have jobs, which basically means customers are their bosses. Most staff listen to their boss, so they should listen just as much to the customers. 


Listening is such an important skill that shows customers the proper respect and ensures customer requests are done properly. When customers feel the staff are listening properly, it helps to create great customer service and helps to create loyal customers.