The art of good customer service

It doesn’t matter if you’re buying yarn at a craft store or hiring someone to construct a building for your new business, customer service at every level is critical to the happiness of the person you’re serving and ultimately the success of a business.

You can have a great product or provide an important service but if you don’t treat your customers well, it won’t matter to your success. Here are some things to think about:

Don’t make customers wait—while patience is a virtue don’t push the limits when it comes to dealing with a customer. It’s important to provide quick resolution to problems and handle a situation without putting someone on hold.

Provide transparency during a transaction. Provide clear, concise answers to a customer’s questions and if a question can’t be answered, offer guidance and the promise that someone will be back to them within 24 hours with an answer. Building trust will ensure happy customers that will come back again.

Make sure the customer’s needs are being met. Communication is key. If it’s a brick-and-mortar store, have staff on hand to answer questions and if it’s a construction project, make sure the project manager is in constant communication with updates about the project. This helps eliminate frustration from the consumer.

If you build trust, a customer will come back. A genuine, personalized experience is so important because what may have brought them in the door with your product or service will evolve into a loyal customer.

Word of mouth is still the most effective marketing strategy and good customer service can start that ball rolling.