How to improve your customer service delivery

A lot of companies are under the delusion that they're providing excellent customer service when they actually are not. A customer service report revealed that while 80 percent of businesses it contacted believed they offered excellent customer service, only 8 percent of their customers agreed that that was true. Of course, no two companies are the same. But successful companies do have a lot in common in terms of providing the best kind of service, and they are based on the following four strategies.

1. Get to know your customers.

The bedrock of providing excellent customer service is developing a close relationship with your customers. Knowing your customer gives you the opportunity to provide them with personalized treatment.

To know your customers, you may have to conduct surveys, relate with them via your social media presence, ask them questions, listen to them and seek to understand them -- not make assumptions. When you make this extra effort to serve your customers better, they will come back.

2. Fix your mistakes.

Customer service mistakes, like over-promising and under-delivering, can be costly mistakes. Nobody’s perfect, but at times when you or your customer service reps make a mistake, it’s important to make amends as quickly as possible.

The aim is to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction at all times. Even when you’re not directly at fault, sometimes it’s good to step in to fix the problem just for the sake of ensuring that your customers are happy and your company’s reputation is protected.

For example, in 2007, Amazon stepped into help a customer whose package had disappeared after his neighbor received the package on his behalf. The customer had ordered a PlayStation for Christmas for his son.

Amazon's customer service people had nothing to do with the package's disappearance but took it upon themselves to give the father a whole new PlayStation and not ask for extra shipping charges. You can bet that that gesture probably turned the happy dad into a repeat customer.

3. Be thoughtful.

People prefer to deal with companies that are more human. A company that shows care and genuine concern for its customers ispowerful. Consumers love feeling special and appreciate the effort companies put in to make them feel that way.

Thoughtful gestures like remembering a customer’s name, sending thank you notes along with the order or celebrating a customer's birthday may seem simple or even insignificant, but they can endear your company to your client.

4. Respond to inquiries quickly.

According to research by Frost consulting, a research company, 41 percent of consumers surveyed said that being put on hold is one of their biggest frustrations. And, to be honest, that statistic was probably just scratching the surface because nobody likes being put on hold.