We are in business for our clients. If we do not have clients, we are not in business at all. If we don't have enough clients, we are always trying to find ways to develop more. Thus, why is it that only a few businesses seem to understand the importance of keeping their clients happy? Keeping clients happy is the key to keeping valuable customers and business.

Good client service is the lifeblood of any business. We can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as we want, but unless we can get some of those clients to come back to us, our business will be profitable for only the short-term.

It is a truism that if you’re a good marketer or salesperson, you can certainly sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your professional approach to customer service that will decide whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else again. The spirit of good client service is in forming a very good relationship with customers - a relationship that individual clients feel that they would like to pursue with you without hesitation.
 

It doesn’t matter how great your product is or how wonderful your service is-if you don’t have customers, all you have is a skill or a product and no cash flow.

I am aware that the above advice verges on being trite because it is so readily available, but just because we have all seen it before does not mean that it lacks validity. Providing good customer service is a very simple thing. Adopt the following points and you will always have good customer service:

1. Don’t make promises unless you will keep them. Dependability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good client service is no exception. If you say, “Your new satellite image will be delivered on Wednesday”, make sure it is delivered on Wednesday. Otherwise, please don’t say it. The same rule applies to customer appointments, deadlines, etc. Mean what you say and keep true to who you really are. Think 10 times before you give any promise. Nothing annoys clients more than a broken promise.

1. Listen to your customers. Is there anything more frustrating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer’s point of view, I doubt it. Listen to your customer. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

2. Answer your phone. Get call forwarding or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. People who call want to talk to a live person, not a machine.

3. Deal with complaints. No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.

4. Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it. Some of your potential customers may occasionally not know what they exactly need from you. Explain to them your products and services in plain language without any uncertainty. Also show them you are listening by making proper replies.

5. Train your staff to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer services. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t know, but my boss will be back at . . .”.

6. Take the extra step. If someone walks into your production office and asks you to help them to find something, don’t just say, “It’s in the other section” Lead the customer to that section. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not tell you, but people notice when people make an extra effort for them and will tell other people.

7. Throw in something extra. Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective.
    
8. You and your staff must truthfully analyze and answer these questions:

• Do you think you are much better than the competition?
• Are you certain that your customers will find great products and service with your company?
• Do you believe that the truth about yourself and your company is more accurate than your customer believes?