YAWN. CUSTOMER SERVICE. THINK AGAIN!

According to a study by Forrester, companies with great customer service get 12% more revenue than those without. That's a lot.

How important is great customer service to you?

Long gone are the days when great customer service was a luxury. Companies used to enjoy a sort of monopoly because they were the only ones, or the few or the most recognized so people had to come to them and deal with their policies. Remember how bad Cell phone companies customer service used to be, and some still are? Why am a T-Mobile customer since 2004? Because if I ever need anything I know they will somehow make it better or at least make me feel better.

This component can make or break any business and should be treated as an integral part of your sales strategy because the happiest customers are those who get the best support. The quickest way to lose a customer's trust in your brand is by providing poor support or worse, no support at all – this means not only will they stop buying from you but they'll also discourage others from doing so too.

A lot of people talk about creating exceptional quality products and services. And there's nothing wrong with that, except the last mile – the interaction between seller and buyer which converts that product or service into revenue – often gets ignored. This isn't surprising considering that every business focuses on different aspects of the sales funnel process for generating leads and converting them into customers, but what happens next is just as important and should be treated with the same focus and attention as the customer grabbing process.

If you look closely into it, most companies focus mainly on the lead generation side of things and don't put enough emphasis on customer service which leaves a lot to be desired once someone has already bought something off you. So why not work a bit more, develop that part of the business that keeps buyers buying from you instead of all your competitors?

By the way, so many times people will choose the product with the best experience through the sales process. So we have to make sure that the experience after purchase is just as enticing.

What are the 2 quick things you can do to delight customers and keep them YOUR customers:

1. Train for communication and deescalation.

Most people who call you have a situation that needs attention and assistance. So let's give them that! Why are so many companies not providing something so simple. Communication goes a long way in the experience. Words have meaning but they also have power. So really good communication and deescalation is a necessary start in order to build a great customer service experience.

This means improving our listening skills, asking questions, handling objections quickly, making adjustments to the offering if appropriate, addressing concerns about your brand or product without judgement or anger etc.

2. Develop a Set of Standards.

I remember going through the Houston Airport immigration line, and the immigration... officer? ... agent? ... at the booth was rather curt, rude and intimidating. I did my best to get out of his way, but not before catching a glimpse of his station wall. Right behind him there was a poster with a list of commitments they were supposed to follow, and number 1 was (paraphrasing here): We commit to extend a warm welcome. I chuckled as I walked away. So this was a fail, but at least the agent had a set of expectations, he knew they existed, and if they weren't met, it was possible to determine where the break happened.

Deliver a consistently awesome experience. I wish I could say this was an advantage but in our day, but quite likely it just brings you up to par. And remember that there is always someone else willing to smoosh your customer promising to be all the things you weren't.