by Maria C Collins

Created on: September 24, 2010   Last Updated: September 25, 2010

Customer service is welcoming the customer like an honoured guest every time he visits or telephones your business. Customer service is not one department in a company, every employee needs customer service training and should be aware, no matter which department they work in, that it is the customer, who pays their wages.

Think about when you buy goods and services, you do not like to wait, whilst two sales assistants finish their conversation, to ask your question. You like to see sales assistants looking clean and tidy in a bright, tidy, clean shop. You probably do not like assistants, who grunt, mumble or say, “I dunno” to any question you ask about the stock. You hate assistants whose attention is not on you but on their mobile telephones. When you think about it, customers are just like you.

They want you to know what you are talking about and hate it if you lie to them, if you do not know the answer to one of their questions say so and find out immediately. If you treat customers respectfully, they will treat you respectfully.

When you get the odd angry customer, do not take it personally, they are probably not angry with you but frustrated at the situation. “I’m sorry”, will get you much further than responding angrily to them, most people cannot continue being angry with someone who is being nice to them. If the company has got something wrong, do not try to defend it, apologize, and put it right immediately.

On the telephone, announce yourself and your department, speak clearly and give information slowly and clearly, remember that that the telephone amplifies regional accents and the very soft accents can be difficult to understand. If you need to transfer a customer to another telephone, advise them what you are doing, and keep an eye to ensure they are answered, never leave the customer in mid-air.

Lastly remember that the customer pays your wages, and is never an interruption to your work, but is the reason for it. Restocking the shelves, counting the stock, or unpacking the new delivery can all wait, the customer will go elsewhere rather than wait, the work will be there when you have finished serving the customer.

The customer is an individual person, not a milk cow. Welcome customers as though they were honoured guests. Treat them as you like to be treated as a customer and you will make more sales and be successful in your customer service career.

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