From the lyrics of Carly Simon's song, Anticipation.... "is keeping me waiting."   Waiting and wondering are two very dangerous words in customer service, and yet I experience both, often.  How many times have you been in a store, hotel, restaurant, or doctor's office standing in line, where clearly the person behind the counter sees you, but does not acknowledge you?  They can look right at you, but choose to say nothing, and somehow they are comfortable with letting you stand and wait.  Is this a training issue, or an acceptable business practice for some businesses, or are some people wired in such a way that they don't understand or can't anticipate the effects of this on a consumer?

"We wildly underestimate the power of the tiniest personal touch."  -Tom Peters 

Long gone are the days of using snail mail and placing catalog orders during business transactions.  Something that used to take days upon days to reach fruition now happens in literally moments.  With nearly a billion websites available at our fingertips and >100 social networking sites to join along with the use of email, smartphones, and tablets, we are always "connected" and can make decisions rapidly.  What does this mean from a customer service standpoint?  This means that customers are demanding, have lots of choices, and are in control.  

Do you make it easy for your customers to give feedback, both good and bad?  Also, when you get the feedback do you openly accept it and respond quickly?  You should.  As John Russell, former Managing Director of Harley-Davidson Europe said, “The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing.”  The feedback that you get from your customers, and what you choose to do with it, is paramount to maintaining longevity and acquiring loyal customers in this unpredictable consumer market.  The comments you get will give you the tools you require to always meet your customers’ needs.

We may think we know what someone is trying to say, particularly if we make assumptions about them and their motives or agendas.  But generally speaking, we are not learning when our mouths are moving.  We are also not learning when we become too focused on what we want to say, the points we want to make, or when we spend time judging whether or not the person speaking is right or wrong.  Pay attention to what is being said.  When people in business fail to hear and understand each other, the results can be disastrous.

- Brown, Haygood, and McLean, The Little Black Book of Success

A key ingredient to creating a "wow" customer service experience is your ability to be attentive and to actively engage through the use of strong listening skills.  We have to be attentive during EVERY interaction with the customer, otherwise there will be a disconnect between what the customer is saying, both verbally and nonverbally, and what you are doing.  We must give our customers our complete attention so we can truly understand what is being said; simply listening to and hearing what customers say is not enough.  The words being spoken are just the beginning.  You must pay attention to all of the extra, little things.  What about our customers':