Service With A Smile

Customer Service

Although you might not think so, customer service is a part of, or at least a close cousin to marketing.  After all, the key purpose of a business is not just to make money, but to obtain and keep a client.  So customer service is critical, even when you are having a bad day.  Remember, you are there to help the client achieve success in their own endeavors.  You are there to provide good service and keep them out of trouble.  You are there to solve problems and provide solutions.  You are not there to create more, so do an excellent job and do it as quick as possible. 

Customer service starts with communication.  You must have strong communication skills and abilities if you desire even modest success.  Now that does not mean that you need to be eloquent (although that would help), or have a vast vocabulary.  No, communication requires, first, the ability to truly listen to the client.  Don’t just hear what they are saying, but really listen.  And that requires your undivided attention with both ears.  I heard it once said that you have two ears and one mouth.  So wouldn’t it be smart to listen twice as hard to your client’s needs?  And then provide a succinct solution for them.  Take the problems they may be having, and are the reasons they are contacting you, and resolve them.  Do it correctly, do it efficiently, and do it cost-effectively.  But remember the key point here is not that you spoke, but rather that you listened.

Secondly, smile when you dial.  Literally, try it.  When you pick up the phone, actually smile.  It will come across the phone conversation in your tone of voice and the client will intuit this.  The reverse is also true.  If you are having a bad day, trust me, they will know it, and that isn’t always best for the relationship.  And when you communicate through correspondence or email, be succinct, be grammatically correct, be polite, and be certain that you choose words that sound friendly, warm, and most importantly, that you are receptive to whatever it is they require of you as if you were chatting with a good friend.

Which brings up another issue.  In the beginning I used to treat my clients just like that – a client.  I was all business and very much to the point.  But over time I learned that the best approach was not to exist in a vendor-client status, but rather to build rapport with the client and thereby create a relationship.  Take the time to find out what their personalities are like and what hobbies they enjoy.  Become familiar with aspects of their personal life if they are willing to share.  And trust me, they will if you are open and friendly and share with them those things about you that make you unique.  When the time permits take yourself out of the professional mode with the client (while still maintaining a professional demeanor) and establish something lasting as if you were developing a friendship.  Because, in fact, that is exactly what you will be doing.  I do not even refer to my clients as clients when I correspond with them.  I call them my friends, and that is very much how I feel about them.