I find it rather crazy that in the last week I have run into a handful of customer service situations that left me so frustrated (see the pic - this is me!).  Each incidence was annoying because either the follow-up or follow-through (or both!) were lacking.  I get it - my standards are ridiculously high since customer service is my expertise, but seriously people - it's not that hard to do it a little bit right! 

In our ProSo world, we live and breathe improving customer experiences.  It's the foundation of our business, supports every effort, and is at the core of every service we provide.  Truth be told- it's a bit of a thorn in our sides because we can't just be a "normal" customer in our day-to-day lives.  Every time we are the customer (and not on the ProSo clock), we over analyze and evaluate the experience.  We constantly think of what was done right, what could be done better, and more. This means our team is the perfect resource for creating a customer loyalty cheat sheet.  So here I present to you what a company can do to sell us and keep us coming back for more...

Even the best well-oiled customer service machine can (and will) malfunction.  Follow our tips below to avoid the four key mistakes that can turn a basic malfunction into a full disaster.  We want to help you to keep your business safe and your customers happy.

I am competitive and hate to lose- personally, professionally, and athletically.  "Losing" doesn't necessarily mean that I lost; instead, it might mean that I defeated myself because I didn't try hard enough, dwelled too much on mistakes, and more.  When I don't "win," I learn from my mistakes, pick up the pieces, and create the game plan for how to do things different next time.  I have found that this is the only way to be successful.  I literally stumbled upon a terrific article that lists 33 characteristics that separate winners from losers, and understanding these differences is paramount as we all attempt to achieve success in life.  We all want to be WINNERS.  Where do you truly fall?

“Did You Know? Over 90% of #business #marketing budgets are spent to get customers to call. Only 6% is spent to actually handle the call.” (Tweeted by @Conrecept.) Now if this is true, and I suspect it is based on what we witness and evaluate each day, think of the money that is wasted and the customers that are lost because focus is just on sales, marketing, and PR. Scary and sad. And to further shock you, according to the "2015 Global State of Multichannel Customer Service Report" published by Parature, from Microsoft and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, today's consumers have increasing expectations for customer serivce.  In fact, according to the report, which surveyed 4,000 consumers across the globe, 60% have higher customer service expectations than a year ago.  What you need to do is obvious- you have to step up your customer service game! 

Truth: Using a structured follow-up system is a guaranteed way to grow your business and revenue. And there’s more- great follow-up processes will give your business a huge advantage over less tenacious competitors. Now here's some sales and follow-up stats that will surprise and also guide you...