We have spent the last several weeks mastering the Customer Service Skills List so we can discover opportunities and know how to "wow" your customers. Let's reverse roles and have you remember when you were the customer and you were "wowed."  What did that feel like? Why were you "wowed"? I am willing to bet it was because the service providers and/or customer advocates went out of their way to make a connection with you. They did something to exceed your expectations, and they made the service exchange about you.

"Service is not a list of off-the-shelf solutions. It's a constant process of discovery. To be of real service, one must be willing to constantly discover exactly what the customer wants or needs - and then provide it." - Mark Ursino, former Microsoft Director

This week the customer service skill that we are focusing on is personalization.  It's all about getting to know your customers so that you can create personal experiences and personalized conversations with them. To successfully do this you must devote your undivided attention and time during all interactions so you can learn about your customers.

How do we best do this? You need to develop a workable Customer Profile System. This system houses all the information about a customer and allows you, or anyone in contact with them, to service them in the most efficient, impressive, and personal manner. Learn all you can about your customers: birthdays, anniversaries, number of children, kids' ages and birthdays, likes, dislikes, hobbies, passions, dreams, and more.  Also, make note of major events happening in their lives like weddings, graduations, births, and deaths and use this information to build memorable interactions. There is nothing more impressive than to know about a personal event happening in your customers' lives and then to ask them about it, or to know their personal preferences and to cater your services, return, and conversations to them.

Four steps for mastering personalized experiences and conversations:

1. Ask your customers questions that will allow you to get to know them on a new level. You want to know your customers as people, not just consumers.
2. Listen carefully to what your customers talk about. They often provide information about themselves, both personally and professionally, and you can capitalize on this knowledge. 
3. Encourage in-person meetings whenever possible. A deeper connection and understanding is made when you are face to face.
4. Be observant and notice trends about your customers. All of these are the personal golden nuggets of information that allow you the opportunity to personalize all future experiences.

When we treat customers as human beings and not just consumers this promotes and builds loyalty and keeps your customers coming back.  Tom Hopkins, author of Selling in Tough Times, offers five tips for cementing these personalized customer relationships:

1. Loyalty is built over time, with consistent attention to your customers.
2. End every conversation with a customer with "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
3. Have a multi-pronged approach for building customer loyalty with phone calls, emails, and even direct mail.
4. Know how to approach customers who have issues or complaints and use that to build their trust and loyalty.
5. Seek out other companies that are known for their loyal client bases. Study them - and incorporate some of their strategies into your business.

Keep in mind that every customer is different and has unique needs, interests, feelings, and life experiences that make up who they are and help to define what we need to do to deliver exceptional service to them.  Our ability to personalize all of our interactions to characteristics that make them "tick" is a big key to our success.