Customer Service Tips

Most of the time we emphasize the need for excellent customer service because it is a powerful tool to help you retain customers. However, excellent customer service also has an added benefit: it can serve as an awesome source of free advertising, because satisfied customers always tell their friends when they receive outstanding service.

Every customer you have is a word-of-mouth advertiser for you. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, when people feel like they have been poorly treated by a company, they are even more likely to share their complaints with their friends. Some marketing experts estimate that as much as 90% of the word of mouth conversation about a company is negative. So, if you want to create a positive buzz for your company and avoid the poisonous gossip mill, make sure you are delivering stellar customer service.

With the now ubiquitous influence of the Internet infiltrating every area of our lives, there is a new term being used to describe what happens to anything that has developed a strong public awareness through a word of mouth process. It is called, "going viral," because it resembles the way that a viral infection like the flu can spread throughout the general population in a short amount of time. These days, the vast majority of those under age 60 are instantly connected to tens or even hundreds of people via email. This makes it possible for any bit of news about your company – be it positive or negative – to be literally transmitted to millions of people in a matter of a few hours because of the interlocking web of contacts we all share in our email address books.

Obviously, now more than ever, it is important to excel in the area of customer service. What can you do to make sure your customer service "infects" people with good news about your company?

Remember, negative word-of-mouth advertising is ten times more common than the positive kind. People are simply more likely to say bad things about your company when they are dissatisfied than they are to say nice things about you when they are very pleased with you. This means that it isn’t enough just to provide good service at the level customers expect; you must provide them with exceptional service that goes beyond what they expect to receive if you want them to go out of their way to sing your praises!

Increasing positive-word-of-mouth starts by your being in tune with the customer. Unsatisfied customers are not likely to make their true feelings known to you at the point of service. While it is true that some are overly vocal, the majority tend to keep quiet with you, and then blab about their frustrations with your company to 20 of their closest friends. Therefore, you must be on the lookout for opportunities to deal with customer dissatisfaction, even when it isn’t obvious.

To identify unsatisfied customers in a face to face setting, you must be sensitive to their tone of voice, observe their body language and listen to the message behind the message in the words they use. Some people are too polite or insecure to make a scene, so when they say to you, "I was a little disappointed that the block on my new lawnmower cracked the second time I used it," you can assume they are much more upset than they are letting on.

If your contact with this customer is only via the telephone, you don’t have the advantage of observing body language and eye contact, so you will have to rely strictly on "reading" the tone, pace and pitch of their voice. Speaking in short, clipped sentences may signal genuine irritation. Sarcastic retorts may indicate a passive aggressive attempt to get back at the company by putting you down. No matter what their vocal pattern may be, you will do a better job of delivering good customer service if you put yourself in their place.

How upset would you be if you had their same issue to deal with? Assume that they are at least that upset and maybe more, and you will be better prepared to address their need with understanding and effectiveness. Remember, the goal here is to give them more than they expect; more understanding, more support, and a better solution than they were hoping to receive. There is no more satisfied customer than someone who had a problem which the company solved above and beyond his expectations. That kind of word of mouth is pure gold.

The type of word-of-mouth advertising that your organization receives is totally up to you. Now that you know that the quality of service you give the customer is likely to go viral in a matter of hours – for better or worse, the ball is in your court. No matter how great you think your customer service process is right now, it is important to ask yourself on a regular basis, "What can we do to make this experience even better for the customer?" One thing is for sure: the way you answer this question will soon be known to potential customers around the corner and around the world.