Customer service is simple (21 ways to make it count)

We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better. ~ Jeff Bezos

Why do companies make customer service so hard? This is not a rant. It is a reminder that we tend to complicate things. Every company, organization, freelancer, etc. has customers. If you run a business, your customers are customers and your employees are customers. If you are an employee, your boss and the colleagues you serve are customers.

We have no excuse

Smart people and good technologies have given us incredible tools to provide better service online and off. For example, brands like Zappos and Hilton have made(and saved) a mint using Twitter for customer service purposes.

Here are 21 ways to make customer service count:

1. Care more
2. Tell the truth
3. Go the extra mile
4. Use simple etiquette
5. Hire better people
6. Make it easy
7. Be a concierge
8. Do your homework (know your customer and your product)
9. Be predictable
10. Keep your promises
11. Go the extra mile
12. Remember you are also a customer
13. Don’t confine it to a department (Everyone is “in” customer service)
14. Listen better
15. Remember what you learned in kindergarten
16. Generosity wins
17. Set client expectations. Then exceed them
18. Be proactive
19. Learn from past mistakes
20. Be helpful
21. Never stop improving

What are yours?

photo credit: Dell’s Official Flickr Page