I was walking the Girls the other day and had an epiphany.  Sugar and Ebony are very fortunate. They found a forever home with people who love them very much, feed them well (mostly all homemade food) and live on acreage. They have a doggie door which allows them to come in and out at will – with lots of room to roam and run.  However, it’s not enough. Say the word “walk” and you’d think these were city dogs who lived in an apartment or in a house with a very small back yard.

The epiphany happened while we were out walking on the State Trust land that is near our home. The Girls were running and playing and just radiated happiness. The terrain is the same as on our property – but it is not the same to a dog. That got me thinking that if Sugar and Ebony met some apartment dwelling city dogs and were able to compare notes, their new friends would think that they had the best living situation possible. They are able to go outside whenever they want. They have plenty of room to run and play. What more could a dog want?

What more does your customer want?

We think that we are doing everything possible for our customers, but there is always something more that can be done. It is up to us to discover what that is. And it will most likely vary from business to business, and possibly from customer to customer.

It is the case of not-seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees. We know our business so well, that we develop blinders and are no longer able to see what else can be done or offered. Or possibly we get tired and jaded, so we think that living on the acreage is good enough and there is no need to stretch our legs on unfenced property.

But what does our customer think? Are they satisfied with what we have to offer, or are they looking to stretch their legs on new experiences, products or offers? Have we told them they are appreciated? Did we thank them for their latest purchase? Do we remember them on their birthday? That is something small (re: inexpensive in both time and money) but says to them that they are important, remembered and appreciated.

We need to continually look at our businesses with fresh eyes so that we keep expanding the horizon of our business. By continually reviewing our products and services so that there is always something new and exciting, we will keep our customers coming back for the next joyful experience.

What have you done to expand the horizon of your business? How did your customers respond? Please share with us below your successes (and those ideas that didn’t work as well, also). We can learn from each other.

With today being Halloween I felt compelled to draw some analogies between Customer Service and going Trick or Treating. Now I must confess – it has been a few years since I went door to door collecting treats from our neighbors   But the fun and joy of Halloween night is still with me.

As children, when we go trick or treating, it is a night filled with anticipation, excitement and fun.

     • The anticipation builds for weeks as we plan our costumes and decorate the house.
     • We get LOTS of candy (and when I was trick or treating) home-made goodies like popcorn balls.
     • Everyone was friendly – even the grumpy old man down the street gave out good candy.
     • It was a block party.
     • It was a time for the family to be together (mom and dad standing back as we walked up to knock on a door).
     • Once home we got to eat some of the candy – then mom put the rest away to ration out over the next few days (weeks… ).

So how does this correlate to Customer Service?

     • We can go the extra mile to find solutions to questions posed by our customers such as locating a hard to find product or component for a unique costume.
     • We can offer candy and treats (solutions / resolutions) to the concerns brought to us by the customer.
     • We can be friendly.
     • We can treat each other as ‘family’ – with kindness and consideration.
     • We can keep the good feeling going beyond the transaction by sending a personal card or gift to our customer letting them know we care about them.
     • We can make every day a fun holiday, but creating an environment that tells our customers that we welcome them and encourages them to come back.

If we think of our customers as kids at Halloween that can be wowed by a simple treat – then it is easy to find treats to give year round that make our customers value us, want to do business with us, and will gladly share with their friends.

Thinking of your business – what treats can you give year round or seasonally that will warm the hearts of your customers and let them know that they are valued and appreciated? Please share your ideas below.

Expectations…according to the Encarta Dictionary that comes with Microsoft Word, are:

     1. Anticipation of something happening
     2. Notion of something (mental image)
     3. Expected standard

We all have expectations.  One is of how people should behave in different situations such as at work, in social settings or at home. The expectation of work behavior can also change based on the industry or profession. Hearing swear words on a construction site may not surprise us at all. However hearing the same words spoken in an office may cause us to raise an eyebrow. Some homes do not allow alcohol consumption, in others it is an everyday, commonplace activity.

Another expectation is what the outcome should be from a series of events such as graduating from high school or college. Or working for one company for many years and moving up the corporate ladder.

Finally we have expectations of what something should look like. We create a scenario in our head and are disappointed if reality doesn’t match our mental image. This mental image may be based on facts, or it may be based on hopes and dreams. In either case we create expectations based on the image we’ve created.

So what has all of this to do with Customer Service? Everything!

As business people / customer service representatives it is important for us to understand our customers’ expectations. Why are they coming into ‘my’ store? What need do they have that I can fill for them? What is the basis for the complaint they are filing? Is it real (such as a blender that doesn’t blend), or is it based on faulty expectations of the product, such as I can use ‘this’ blender as a food processor?

Mis-understanding expectations happens all the time. And sometimes it is not the business’s fault at all, but it is the fault of the consumer.  We expect all blenders to work as food processors because we had one years ago that did. Or we expect all businesses in the same field to work the same hours or have the same policies.

I keep running into this one because I bank with two different banks. Recently I was catching up with my bookkeeping on a Sunday. One of my banks had bankers available in the call center to answer customer questions. The other didn’t. I got angry at the bank that didn’t. Problem is that I have used this bank for about 10 years and have tried to reach their call center on other Sundays. I KNOW that they aren’t open on Sundays – but I got angry just same. In all honesty most of that anger was frustration at myself for getting angry over something that I already knew. Vicious circle… But it happens all too often. And when we’re not honest with ourselves we blame the business.

So what can we do? Well when I did call my not-open-on-Sunday bank on Monday, I politely told them that I would really appreciate it if they were open on Sunday and pointed out to them that one of their major competitors was. I also mentioned that I felt pretty sure that I wasn’t the only small business person who played catch-up on Sunday doing some of the more mundane chores of running a business such as the accounting.

Will my comments be heard? I don’t know. I’ve had this conversation with them on other occasions and they still aren’t open on Sunday. Maybe I am the only business person who does accounting on Sundays???

But what is important here is that I manage my expectations. As a consumer I need to educate myself about policies (hours of operations) and procedures (how long I have to make a return) of the companies I do business with on a regular basis. So long as they are doing everything right by posting their hours in visible locations and clearly stating what their return policy is – then I have no cause to get angry at them (or myself) over something like their being closed on Sunday.

Actually there is a part of me that thinks all businesses should be closed on Sunday and holidays. But that is a discussion for another time

And for the businesses? It is important for the business to walk a mile in our customers’ shoes. So that we can anticipate customer expectations and not just meet them, but exceed them. This includes simple things such as clearly posting, in easy to see and read the basic information that customers want and need. Don’t just say everything is on the website. Basic info such as store hours needs to be clearly posted for all to see.

But then think about the little things. Those ‘needs’ that the customer has for coming to us, rather than our competitor. What can we do to fulfill those needs? Often times it is as simple as being welcoming and helpful – without being pushy. Or having fresh flowers on the counter for all to enjoy. Or finding that hard-to-find product / color / size that our client is looking for. It is letting each person who enters our door (be it brick and motor or virtual) that they are special, appreciated and valued.

If you aren’t sure what your customers’ expectations are? Ask them. And be prepared to take action on their responses.

Please share your thoughts below.

If you’ve been following me for any length of time you know that I am passionate about Customer Service. Customer Service in brick and mortar businesses. Customer Service for online businesses. And Customer Service for our electronic communications of email and social media.  

But what about communicating with family, friends and acquaintances?

Do we follow our Customer Service principles with non-business contacts? Do we follow them when standing around the water cooler at work; or the dinner table at home? Do we follow them when the people around us are in agreement with us? But what about when they disagree with us?

I bring this up now because of the upcoming elections. I’m sure you’ve seen it – the person who is, to be nice about it, extremely passionate about their point of view or candidate. “They” are right and anyone who disagrees with them is not only wrong, but stupid and a whole string of additional negative adjectives. I’ve often wondered how they think that this kind of attitude will win me over to their point of view. (And when it is someone espousing a position that I am in agreement with – I just cringe…)

Reminds me of the saying “you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. There is a lot of vinegar being spilt these days.

I had an interesting conversation with a business associate recently which illustrates this point. Her business is an LLC. Her accountant told her that if President Obama gets reelected she will pay 39% tax next year on her business income because she is an LLC. The accountant is trying to get her to convert to a C Corporation. Now I’ve been listening to both sides in this election and I hadn’t heard this claim from the Republican side, so I questioned her a bit more. My friend really had no more information. So I went to http://www.factcheck.org/ and couldn’t find anything that verified it, and did find some that indirectly refuted it.  Maybe the accountant had an agenda? Was the accountant a strong Republican, or just wanted the business of creating a C Corp for my friend?

So what can we do when we’re caught in flood of conversational vinegar like the above example? Same thing you’d do at the Customer Service desk:

     1. Listen to the underlying point the person is making.
     2. Repeat it back them.
     3. Resolve – which in this situation may be agreeing to disagree.
     4. Stay calm
     5. Keep open body language
     6. And because you’re not at the Customer Service desk – if the other person just won’t calm down excuse yourself (head to the restroom if there is nowhere else to run), and calmly walk away.

Often times in these situations there is no hope for resolution (I’m not going to get you to change your mind and you aren’t going to get me to change mine…). So to value the relationship – friend, family or acquaintance – it is simply best to take a step back and remove yourself from the situation.

And if someone does say something that sounds plausible to you, but you want to be sure, I highly recommend http://www.factcheck.org/ .  They specialize in verifying political “facts”. And it is a good place to confirm ‘what you know to be true’, before claiming your street corner to espouse your point of view.

Please share any ideas you have on dealing with this challenges with friends and family, below.

Last week we discussed the power of Thank You. One of the comments I received is from Katie A., who wrote:

Thanks for the great Wisdom that you provide!!! I agree with you there is a lot of info missing. But, to take the time to write into the newspaper--it is easy to imagine that he is experiencing a lack of friendliness and appreciation for his business and that the point for all of us in business to decide that friendliness and appreciation are core values that we live by. Core values are True North Guide Posts that keep me on the right track and keep my behavior in alignment with the success that I am grateful for and creating in my life!  (My emphasis.)

This got me thinking about core values. Recently I’ve come across the core values of two companies that I’d like to share with you.  The first is from a local, brick and mortar businesses, B & L Flooring America and Crazy Nate’s Flooring Outlet, owner is Dan Hussey. The core values for his companies are:

     1. People are more important than money.
     2. Ongoing education and improvement for all the staff.
     3. Be debt free. He orders everything COD.
     4. No gossip is allowed.
     5. Give back to community in time and money.

When I heard this I was Wowed! Especially with core value #1 – People are more important than money! That is the foremost of Customer Service policies that I have ever seen!

The other set of core values that I’ve seen recently that knocked me out come from www.Zappos.com .  They are:

     1. Deliver WOW Through Service*
     2. Embrace and Drive Change
     3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
     4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
     5. Pursue Growth and Learning
     6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
     7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
     8. Do More With Less
     9. Be Passionate and Determined
    10. Be Humble
 
*Their website defines Wow Service this way:
     We've been asked by a lot of people how we've grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple... We've aligned the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Internally, we call this our WOW philosophy.
          (My emphasis.)

Do you have written Core Values for your business? Even if your business is just you – you need to put down on paper what is important to you in the way you run your business. Then share these values with others so that we can be Wowed by your commitment to honesty, integrity and taking care of your customers. 

Please share your Core Values with us below!

First a quick follow-up to last week’s article on being an “Email Ninja”. Ian S. wrote “Inbox maintenance is now a responsibility just like auto maintenance. ”  Maybe a little tongue in cheek – but very true. Our cars are tools that we take care of, so should our email inbox be thought of as a tool of our business. Thank you, Ian!

There was a letter to the editor of my local paper (The Daily Courier) recently (September 28, 2012) in which the writer was bemoaning the lack of gratitude on the part of local stores. He tells us that he made a $2.50 purchase, paying with a $5.00 bill. He then goes on to say that the cashier:

     …replied ”Two fifty is your change.” At the end of another transaction the clerk said “There ya go.” Neither   
     one of these responses is acceptable. I work hard for my money and I need to know my business is
     appreciated. If I decide to spend my money in your store, the least I expect is a “thank you”. If not, I will take
     my busines elsewhere.

Now you’d think seeing a letter like this in my local paper would have me jumping for joy. And part of me is. However part of me said “give me a break – we’re talking about a $2.50 purchase”. That caught me up – any purchase should be valued whether it is $2.50, $250.00 or $2,500.00.

So I reread the letter, and thought about it some more. What was missing? First, we don’t know if the cashier was smiling, polite, and using open body language – or if she was being rude, curt and just processing the line through.

Next, I ‘listened’ to the tone of the letter. The words as written were a bit brusque. OK – he was writing to the newspaper editor. Usually we do that when we have a ‘beef’.  But he did sort of sound like a grumpy old man (no excuse for bad service – just an observation).  

All this reminds me of some statistics I read in the book The Delicate Art of Dancing with Porcupines, by Bob Phillips in which he talks about behavior and communication. His stats were:
     a. Non-verbal behavior – 55%
     b. Tone of voice – 38%
     c. Actual spoken words – 7%

Actual spoken words are only 7% of our communication! In face-to-face encounters such as the author of the above letter – there are lots of other ways we can express our appreciation for someone.  However, when we write emails, newsletters, blogs etc, we only have the 7% of our written (spoken) words.

I’ve said it before and will say it again – it’s not what you say but how you say it!

But I still have an underlieing question about this. Is the letter author right? Should EVERY transaction end in a “Thank You”? Or are there other ways of showing our appreciation to our customers? Thins like:
     • Was the customer welcomed when they came in?
     • Do you recognize repeat customers?
     • When they leave we can say:
       o Have a good day.
       o Come back soon.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and comments on this. Please post them below.

Seems as if I’ve come up with a trilogy of articles on email. In this instance, we are talking about the internal customer – YOU!  This article was written by my friend, Natalie Haertlein back in April of this year. 

Natalie wrote:
With all the snowy-days we’ve had lately it’s hard to believe, but Spring is here! Flowers are blooming, birds are singing and it’s time for Spring Cleaning.

I have a confession, I am a secret hoarder! Not in the theatrical sense you see on TV. I’m an Email hoarder! I have THOUSANDS of emails!! The problem with hoarding emails is even if I wanted to find one in particular, I probably couldn’t and it’s flat out an inefficient way to run an inbox. Since I am a recovering email hoarder myself, I have turned to some expert advice from Michael C. Hyatt, president of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Here are his tips to becoming an “Email Ninja”!!

Read each message once and ask yourself this question: “AM I BEING ASKED TO DO SOMETHING?” If so, there are only 3 possible actions:

     1. Do: Take action on the task now. Follow the two-minute rule: If you can do what’s being requested in less than two minutes, do it immediately.

     2. Delegate: Pass the task along to the person best equipped to handle it.

     3. Defer: Consciously decide you will do the task later. Either add the task to your to-do list or schedule an appointment with yourself to complete it.

So I know my fellow Hoarders are saying, “Thanks Natalie, but what about the 2,000 emails in my inbox right now??” Don’t fret! I have ideas there too. I’m familiar with Microsoft Outlook, but I imagine other email providers have similar features you can utilize.

     1. Sort by sender: This allows you to remove all the “junk” that is still ingering but no longer relevant (or may have never been relevant in the first place?)! This also allows you to recognize senders who may require their own “file” for more efficient storage of that information.

     2. Search for old emails: Once you have eliminated the emails from senders you don’t need, you can sort all your outstanding RELEVANT emails by date. Create date folders (2010, 2009).

     3. Set up Rules: At this point you should be seeing the trends of your inbox. Create rules so your inbox will file your emails for you. Don’t worry! You can leave them as unread and your “files” will keep track of how many unread items there are.

     4. Mark for handling: Now that you have eliminated the “old mail” and “junk mail” and “mail I have to keep for reference, but doesn’t require any immediate action”, you can sort through what is left. For this process refer back to the start of this article: Do it now, Delegate to someone else or Defer it to your task list!

Now you are an Email Ninja! No more wasted time looking for emails or forgetting important
tasks because they got “buried” in your inbox. Happy Spring Cleaning!

Some additional tips from Heidi:
     1. Create folders for anything you have multiple emails for. You can have folders within folders within folders. For example:
        a. Customer ABC Widgets
             i. Sale of widget parts 2010
            ii. Sale of widget parts 2011

If this customer places multiple orders in a year and there is a lot of correspondence for each order, go ahead and create even more sub-folders

           iii. Sale of widget parts 2012
                1. January order
                2. May order
                3. August order

     2. Utilize “Tasks” or your “Calendar” for follow-up. No need to keep everything in your inbox as a reminder to call them next week (or next month) 

     3. Eliminate multiple emails that are all the same thread. Usually, the only email you need to save is the last one in. Just be sure the whole thread is there before hitting the delete key.
     
     4. When the subject of the email changes, change the Subject Line. And quite possibly start a new folder for the new topic.

So do some Fall Cleaning and unclutter your Inbox. Have fun with this!!!

We all get too much junk email. There is the true junk, ads for products we did not ask for and most likely would never use. Then there is the junk from people we have given our email address too because we like their product and / or service.

Case in point are the political campaigns raging here in the US. I have signed up with some political organizations that I agree with. I’m about to unsubscribe from all of them. I was hopeful it would get better once the primaries were over. Sigh…it’s only gotten worse. At this point I’m not reading any of them (which means I’m not sending them any money which appears to be the bottom line for all of them). When I see who the email is from, I simply delete it.

It would be helpful if similar organizations got together and coordinated their email campaigns. However, when I get emails from the National Congressional Campaign Office, National Senatorial Campaign Office, National Party presidential campaign; presidential campaign directly, and then ‘special’ campaigns for this senator or that governor who is in a tight race – I want to run out of the office screaming! Oh, did I mention special interest groups who support this or that candidate for their own reasons?

This is just one form of abuse of email for mass marketing. The end result is that we, the consumer, get turned off to the product being promoted which is very counter-productive.

Looked at closely, none of these organizations are violating the CAN SPAM act - however they are certainly annoying. So what can we do with our email marketing to be effective, informative and provide a product that people look forward to and open as soon as it hits their inbox?

     1. Be relevant! Provide information that your customers / clients / readers want and are interested in.

     2. Stay focused and on target. You can have different sections in an eletter, but be sure the document has been proof-read and all the content is relevant to the reader.

     3. Follow the CAN SPAM guidelines. Among other things this includes an easy way for people to opt out of receiving your email. It also includes not making false promises or offering freebies that really aren’t. Besides that is the fastest way to get clients to leave you in droves.

     4. Don’t take it personally when someone does unsubscribe. It may be that your content isn’t a fit for them at this time. Or it may be that right now they are in data overload and just need to cut back on the number of eletters they are receiving. Also, it is important to honor this request promptly.

     5. Respect your list! Never ever send an email where the email addresses of all recipients are shown. Also, don’t send email from a co-worker’s list without their express permission.

     6. When sending any email, be sure there is an honest description in the subject line of the content. You can use a bit of a teaser – but not something out in left field.

     7. When sending a flyer / attachment of any kind, ask yourself if it is really necessary. Maybe just putting the info on the flyer in the body of the email will be sufficient. Many corporate email servers block emails with attachments, especially if the email address is not white listed.  If it is something you want people to print, post or share – you can offer to send them a PDF of the information if they want it.

     8. All emails should have a signature that includes your physical location – physical address or PO Box - this is necessary so we know who sent it to us. Don’t assume people will recognize your email address and know it is “you”.  This is also a CAN SPAM requirement.

     9. Remember, it’s not always what you say but how you say it. It is very important that you re-read all emails (especially marketing ones) for the tone of voice of what you are saying. Is it friendly, informative and / or invocative? Or does it come across as rude, bossy or “holier than thou”?

     10. In business, the best marketing may be to pick up the phone and not send an email at all. Don’t use email to the exclusion of the personal touch.

Hope you found these tips useful. If you have more to share, please do so at http://blog.toughestcustomer.com

AND, one more quick note.  As you know, I’ve been working on coming up with a new name for Toughest Customer – and I think I’ve hit on a good one. But I would greatly appreciate your input. Please go to this quick 2 question survey and tell me what you think. Many thanks! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2PPJNB3

Also, feel free to comment on the new name or this blog, below.

Have a great week!

Email is a great tool. It is fast, effective, informative and can also be fun. I personally enjoy getting the emails with fantastic nature photos, or a collection of Maxine cartoons. You know the type of email I’m talking about. I even have a distribution list called “Fun Stuff” to friends who also like this type of email. I have a few email distribution lists – but no one is added to any of these lists without my asking them first.  This is important email etiquette – but I digress

Today I am talking about the one-to-one email that is sent in business. These emails can fall into a number of categories. Some of these categories are:
     • Request for proposal
     • Response to request for proposal
     • Discussion on just about anything that requires two or more people to share information
     • Question about a specific product or service
     • Request for a meeting – either in person or a telephone conference
     • Minutes from a meeting
     • …and the list goes on and on

But for all the wonder that is email, there are some challenges with it. From The Delicate Art of Dancing with Porcupines, by Bob Phillips

“Behavior includes what we say, how we say it and all of our accompanying actions. Of these three elements of behavior, the most powerful communicator is the nonverbal behavior of our actions. Next in line is tone of voice, and the least powerful element is our actual spoken message.“ 

Mr. Phillips goes on to list these percentages:

     Non-verbal behavior – 55%
     Tone of voice – 38%
     Actual spoken words – 7%  (my emphasis)

7% of our communication is the spoken (written) word. The rest of our communication usually comes from clues that are not available when we write. That means that email communication can be flat and dull. It can also be difficult to read when common grammar and spelling rules are ignored.

Most of us have had some experience with Texting. This is a tool used a lot by young people where they utilize all kinds of creative abbreviations; don’t use punctuation; don’t follow any rules of grammar; and almost come up with a new language (or at least a new dialect ).

That’s great for kids in a social setting. It doesn’t work in business.  Some rules of the road for business email include:
     1. Use whole sentences and proper grammar. When sending email from a Smart Phone, this rule can be stretched a little – but do remember that you are sending an email and not a text.

     2. Acknowledge receipt of an email. When someone sends you information that you requested – let them know you received it! Things get lost in cyber space, especially if there is an attachment. It is simple common courtesy to let the sender know you received the information. This can be done quickly with a reply of:
          a. Thanks
          b. Got it!
          c. Got it. Back to you tomorrow; next week; or whatever the appropriate time frame is.

     3. Monitor what you say! Remember, in effective communication only 7% is the words we speak (or write). It is very easy to reply to an email too quickly and wind up sounding rude. I have seen this happen many a time from people who I know were not intentionally being rude. And I may have done it once or twice myself   Just slow down and re-read the email with the ear of the recipient. Tweaking just a few words can have a major impact on the positive presentation of your message.

     4. Respect everyone in the thread. If there are more people copied on the email than just the sender and recipient, be sure to use your email’s “reply to all” option. If there is a conversation going on, it is simply rude to cut some of the people out by not replying properly.

     5. Use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) feature when you are sending an email to a lot of people who don’t need to know who else received the email (such as a newsletter). It is sad to say, but some people will mine all those email addresses and then spam them with solicitations of their own product. It happened to us with a church newsletter.
 
     6. Start a new email when the subject changes and be sure that it goes only to those people who need to know the new information. Not only is this cleaner and polite – it can also save all kinds of legal hassles should one of the topics wind up as part of a law suit. Truly, this does happen!

So just because email is fast and easy, keep in mind these few simple rules, which when you think about them fall into the categories of common sense and common courtesy. It will make you that much more appreciated as a business resource.

     In the faltering economy, the importance of customer service has reached new highs, overtaking even price as a purchase determinant, according to a (2012) J.D. Power report.

     Many businesses cut costs and turned to automation technologies to handle customer needs, which had the effect of raising the importance of people in the service experience.

     "While value is important, consumers want more than simply the lowest price or a product that is just good enough,” said Gina Pingitore, chief research officer at J.D. Power and Associates. “They expect a superior product that is delivered in a compelling presentation, through fast and easy-to-understand processes that are supported by responsive and concerned people. In addition, the price must be perceived as fair and competitive."  (Italics added.)

     (This is from a MediaPost article: 50 Brands Named 'Customer Service Champions’.)

What has all this to do for most of us who are solo-entrepreneurs or small business owners? A lot! I see this much too often with friends of mine who are small business owners. Since they are often times the only employee, they are “sure” that they are giving great customer service.

Unfortunately I have to disagree.

Oh, they do great one-on-one. They will go the extra mile to find an answer / solution for you. But then they let little things slip. Some of these “little things” have to do with technology. They include:

1. Not acknowledging information received via email. This is critically important because things do get lost in cyber space, especially if there is an attachment to the email. Don’t make your customer have to send a follow-up email asking if you received what they sent. A quick reply with “got it” or “thanks” is sufficient acknowledgement most of the time.

2. Same goes with phone messages. Most of the time they need to be acknowledged as well. Sometimes an email can be an OK reply (especially if you pick up your message at 11:00 at night ) But do be sure this customer is a regular email user.

3. Keep in mind that our customers are the same people who shop 24/7 at Amazon.com or Zappos.com. I’m not implying you have to make yourself available 24/7 (and we as customers shouldn’t expect it either). However, we do need to get back to our clients in a timely fashion – which for most industries would be within a half day. If the phone call or email comes in, in the morning, it should be responded to in the morning. Same with the afternoon. Checking your phone and email messages should be the last thing you do before going to lunch or closing for the day.

A study was done in the United Kingdom in 2010 that found that businesses in the UK were losing billions of pounds (yes, billions with a “B”) every year due to slow response to customer inquiries. They broke it down to 30,000 pounds for every business in the country. After doing some math and converting from pounds to dollars, it came out to $47,458.59 (in 2010 dollars) lost by EVERY business in the country due to slow customer service!

Now I don’t know about you, but I would happily add $50,000 to my bottom line each year just by being responsive to my customers. How about you?

When it comes to our brand image, we need to be conscious of the small details as well as the big (or primary) reason for the contact. It is a “can’t see the forest for the trees” situation.  The small details can have a big impact through repeat and referral business.