Outstanding customer service is what drives success since it is what keeps your customers, and who they tell about you, coming back time and time again.  I know- you have heard this before from us, but we don't think you can hear it enough as having strong customer service skills can make or break you, and we want to keep your business thriving. You can't have enough tips and tricks in your customer service tool box, so we want to fill your box with more.

Lately, to my disappointment, I have not encountered near enough notable customer service exchanges. In fact, quite the opposite ~ until the other day! My daughter recently had surgery and her surgical pre-op nurse demonstrated service at it's finest. It was obvious that this person operates naturally from a place of compassion, but she was also textbook perfect with her service delivery ~ and in my world, with what I do for a living, I don't use that "perfect" word very often. 

'Tis the season of giving, but rather than just giving during this season, shouldn't we "give" to our customers throughout the year? And in business, what exactly should we give? Naturally, especially during the holidays, we rack our brains to come up with an idea for a nice, hopefully meaningful, present to give to our customers. While the thought and gesture put into giving a tangible gift should no doubt be appreciated by our customers, we can escalate our spirit of giving for a far better impact on everyone, including ourselves, by giving more regularly. Now don't be a Grinch- engaging in regular "giving" is not hard. Piqued your interest?  Let me break it down for you...

It's fitting to discuss "giving thanks" since we are in the midst of celebrating the many things we are thankful for during this month of Thanksgiving.  In business, the #1 thing we should be thankful for is our customers, which is rather obvious since they are the reason that we are staying in business, and they help us to afford putting a turkey feast on our tables (figuratively and literally).  It's a given that we are thankful for them, but do they feel appreciated?  Before I give you tips for taking your thankfulness beyond just saying "thank you," let me tell you about an experience that we are currently having with one of our vendors (crossing my fingers that they will read this and finally choose to be different)...

A LOT!  For those of you who don't know, K.I.S.S. stands for "Keep it simple, stupid" (not calling you stupid; just don't want you to act stupid).  According to Wikipedia, the meaning of K.I.S.S. is: "The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity should be avoided."  Now applying this principle to customer service makes a lot of sense, right?  Businesses often neglect to uphold customer service standards since they don't want to put in the work required to train on and maintain them.  This is where businesses go wrong- implementing good, basic customer service practices is not hard, and for many people, it comes naturally once they are given a gentle nudge to embrace these skills. 

How many times have you been in a store, restaurant, or on the phone, and questioned the proper "fit" of the person's skills in relation to the job they were working?  The waiter who is unfriendly, or the person answering the phone who puts you on multiple holds, disconnects your call, or transfers incorrectly?  How about the person at a home improvement store working in "lawn and garden" who can't answer any of your lawn and garden questions?  One of my personal favorites is the person who works in a family fun vacation destination, such as a theme park or resort, who, based on the poor delivery of their service, alters your "fun" experience?  So who is to blame for this improper fit?  During that moment of frustration, it is easy to blame the service person at the restaurant, home improvement store, or on the phone, but as we peal back the layers of "why," there are many reasons for this bad fit and disconnect.