by Lesley Mason

Created on: March 22, 2009

1. Know Your Market

The first absolute rule when it comes to good customer service is knowing who those customers are. This breaks down into knowing the individuals and knowing the "customer base".

When it comes to individuals, how much you know will depend upon the nature of the business and the nature of the custom. In a service industry for example, providing housing or health care, you might well be privy to all kinds of very personal information about your customers. Information whose use is protected by law. Most of the legal protection, however, restricts you from passing the information on. It shouldn't hinder your own use of it to improve the service provided to your own customers. If their preferred method of communication is not written English, this should be noted and every effort made to give them what they need - a written translation into their first language for example, or an audio-taped transcript. Note whether people prefer to be telephoned, or texted (SMS) or e-mailed if appointments need to be changed. Little things mean a lot.

One hotel chain I deal with e-mails me the confirmation of my booking. Then the day before I'm due they e-mail me again (just in case I've lost the original?). On the arrival day, they text me to ask if I'd like a dinner reservation or directions. To begin with I found this irritating, but on reflection, I realise that one day at an unfamiliar hotel I might need both the reservation and the directions.

Regular customers should be greeted by name - but don't be overly familiar, this is still a business transaction. They're a client, not a mate! You need to make the individual feel just as important as that big corporate account you've just won. In the long run, regular small-scale business will mean more to your enterprise than the one-off big contracts.

Try to avoid asking the same questions or giving the same information every time you deal with regular customers. Having to fill in the ethnicity survey for the 10th time this year for a service-provider who darn-well already has this on file is just a trifle irritating. It also makes one (as a customer) wonder if the organisation knows what it's doing.

Beyond the individual, knowing the market is about watching current trends. Some enterprises fail because they miss trends in product development or pricing strategies. Just as important however is to watch trends in customer awareness. If you operate in a market where customers are generally fickle, be aware if something

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