In the 20th century, customer service was based on contact one on one with the customer and market research with focus groups. Now, as more people spend hours online shopping or browsing for more information on products or services, there is more research available.

When a customer goes onto a website and there is implicit consent that even with a privacy policy, the website can collect data on how long the customer browses, what age or sex or family income they may have and what they click on, the internet is become a major resource for shopping data.

Today, this sort of thing is possible not just for online experiences; it’s possible for physical experiences as well — and not just retail shopping. This vivid view of the end-to-end experiences is rapidly changing the way people think about, measure, and manage their customer relationships. from The Internet of Things Is Changing How We Manage Customer Relationships

1. Listen to your customer

Always listen. Even if you have a angry customer who just found out the expense for hiring you, you have to be willing to listen because all they want is someone to listen to their anger. Once they finish, then you can start giving them some ideas and reasons for the costs of the service.

We have listened to many angry customers finding out that the simple garage they want to build is going to cost them more money and more hours of paperwork and design to do it.

Whenever you engage with a customer, listen to what he has to say. Eliminate distractions, make eye contact and nod occasionally to let him know you’re paying attention. Once he’s finished, ask clarifying questions to ensure you fully understand the situation. When you truly hear what a customer has to say, you convey to him that he (and his opinions) are important to you.  from 8 Ways to Offer Stellar Customer Service That Don’t Cost a Penny

2. Own up to your Mistakes

No matter how talented, how experienced or how organized you are, there is always the possibility of making an error that affects a customer. No one is perfect.

Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.   Salvador Dali

Never lie or try to deceive a customer. Own what happened and offer a sincere apology. “I apologize” is a simple, yet powerful phrase. Your genuine honesty will endear clients and establish trust. from 8 Ways to Offer Stellar Customer Service That Don’t Cost a Penny

3. Get Feedback

It is always good to get feedback from customers to see “how are you doing.”

In our home business, we had to do little paid advertising as we usually had previous clients happy with our service and we will get referrals from them.  There is nothing stronger than personal referrals to get new clients. 

So, place systems into your business to get feedback from your clients whether it is a “thank you card, how did we do?” or “customer completion form.

Conducting a brief survey goes a long way toward deeper engagement. It gives customers the chance to provide immediate feedback while the experience is fresh in their minds. Asking questions such as “How satisfied are you with our service today?” and “Is there anything we can do better?” also provides an opportunity to gain insight into unmet needs.  from 4 Ways to Extend Customer Service Beyond Your 1-800-Number

4. Nurture the relationship with the customer

When you’ve spent so much time, effort and money to earn the trust of your customers, it only makes sense to nurture the relationship to the point of turning them into brand loyalists. To do so, you have to pay more attention to the customers that aren’t currently buying anything but are likely to buy again in the future.from How to Get Customers to Keep Coming Back.

Some ways to nurture your relationship with your customers:

1. Give them value that will enrich their life.
2. Keep in regular communication with your customers.

5. Negative Reviews travel 10 times faster than Positive reviews

Why is it that negative comments travel faster than positive? Is it the stress building up into anger keeping you focused on remembering to write up a negative review? I think it is part of being human to remember your negative experiences more so you avoid them than the positive!  So, try to remember to keep an eye of reviews being made about your product and deal with the negative reviews quickly!

When customers have a good meal or experience in your establishment, they will post pictures and tell their friends on Facebook and Instagram to visit your business. The same is true if they have a negative experience — and consumers tend to post more if they’ve had a bad time. These reviews are real and can significantly impact your bottom line. from Feeling the Sting of Recent Rotten Reviews on Yelp?

So, to summarize:

1. Listen to your Customer
2. Own up to your mistakes
3. Get Feedback
4. Nurture the customer relationship
5. Negative reviews travel 10x faster than positive reviews

and if you remember these five tips to better customer service you will develop a relationship with your customer that will last long past the first sale!