Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting
most right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition. These
Top Ten Tips for Customer Service will get you well on the way.

1. Be Your Customer
   Live the life of your customer and experience what they do. Stand in line, call
   your call-centre, soak up feedback.
2. Give Memorable Service
   Make the life’s mission of everyone (yes, everyone!) to be customer focused -
   even those seemingly out of direct line of fire.
3. Have Product Available
   Generally, you can’t sell it if you haven’t got it. Work your systems hard and
   focused to get product there on time.
4. Listen Hard to Complaints
   Complaints are a wonderful gift - it is feedback of the highest order. Enjoy
   them and learn fast.
5. Enable Your People
   Enable and encourage your people to give an immediate and generous customer
   response.
6. React Fast
   Make sure that you and your people work with pace and immediacy with customer
   issues.
7. Be Systems Focused
   Ask, ‘What would my customer think of this - would it give brilliant service?’
   If not, reshape the system fast.
8. Be Curious
   Encourage everyone in your team to overhear, be nosy, ask questions and feed
   back information from your customers.
9. Research the Marketplace
   Do more in your own business from what you experience as a customer elsewhere.
   Encourage your people to do this too.
10. Have Fun
    Have fun with your customers. It builds relationships. Relationships are
    business.

Ten Tips to success, in an easy to use framework. Will you take up the
challenge?

Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide,
mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He
has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website,
http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com/delighting_customers.html
(Note to editors. This article may be edited for use in your publication or
newsletter as long as a live link to the website is included)

…helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow…