5 Secrets Of Good Customer Service

Good customer service is the bread and butter of your business.

For instance, I paint outdoor signs and create various types of indoor/outdoor promotionals for people in our small town. I’ve been at this business now for over 20 years. I rarely advertise, yet I enjoy about 80 percent of our town’s sign and display business. How do I do it?

I have several business success secrets that helped me get to where I am today, and all of them relate to good customer service. These customer service secrets can equally apply to service contractors doing business with other businesses, as in my case, or to retailers doing business with the general consumer.

Customer Service Secret Number One - Build Business to Customer Loyalty. This is my number one customer service secret, and is by far the most important one. I was taught about Business to Customer Loyalty many, many years ago, before I started my own business, when I still worked as a hotel detective in a ritzy down town Calgary hotel. The hotel insisted that every one of us who had contact with their customers know the customer by his full name and, when possible, other personal or business information about him.

“Good evening, Mr. Smith. Welcome to our hotel.” Then, after a bit of miscellaneous chit-chat, “By the way, Mr. Smith, did you manage to unload at a profit those hundred shares of Doodlebug Appliances you thought were a bit risky?” or, “Was your daughter accepted at Harvard? Last time you were a guest with us you expressed concern that Emily was having difficulty with her math, and wasn’t sure if she had enough points to qualify for admission.”

Now, here’s a customer who KNOWS that he’s welcome at your hotel, and whenever he’s back in town, you can count on him staying in your establishment!

Is this spying on customers? Not at all! It’s simply remembering a few concerns that your customer shared with you the last time he stayed in your hotel.

When you can show concern about what matters to your customer, that’s Business to Customer Loyalty, and you can bet on it, you’ve just acquired a customer for life.

Continue on to the next page to read more secrets of good customer service.