Customer service is a cliché if there ever was one. And it must be one of the most misunderstood concepts in business today. The name of the game is making customer service PAY. I am always amazed at how most businesses go about tackling the question of customer service. What most businesses do is spend lots of money and lots of time in an attempt to impress their customers. What they fail to do is to find out if this will make them any more money or not. You see, great customer service without bottom line results is a waste of time and money.

Let me share with you the three steps you must take to achieve great and meaningful customer service.

Step 1 — You must aim for CONSISTENCY. It’s no good if whatever you do differs each day. Your customers will want to know that whenever they visit your business the service will be the same. And it doesn’t matter what the level of customer service is, so long as it’s consistent. If you were running a five star restaurant you will serve your dinner guests at their tables. If you were running a fast food outlet you wouldn’t. This doesn’t mean the customer service at the fast food outlet is inferior to that of the restaurant. It would just be different;  at a different level. And you must offer consistency in both service and delivery.

Step 2 —  Make it EASY for customers to buy from you. With consistency comes trust. By building consistency into your sales process, you will ensure you systematically surpass their expectations every time they buy from you. They will begin to trust your business. They will know every time they buy from you there will be no unpleasant surprises. They receive the same pleasant greeting each and every time they arrive, they receive the same efficient and courteous service while they are there and their questions are answered accurately and honestly. Do everything possible to make their buying experience easy. That way they will know what to expect when they return next time.

Step 3 — Now do the WOW. This is the way to create raving fans. Understand this, the fundamentals of creating great customer service involves creating a system to make sure your customer’s expectations are surpassed, every time. Having satisfied customers implies you have given them all they’ve wanted, but nothing more. But if you’re going to surpass their expectations, you must systematically go beyond their expectations. Every single day you need to be getting better. The Japanese have a good term for this. They call it Kaisen – constant and never ending improvement.

People are willing to PAY for good service — when it’s the service they desire. If the service exceeds their expectations, they will STAY with you and they will SAY good things about your business. But if your service is poor, they’ll WALK away, they’ll TALK negatively about your business and they’ll BAULK at coming back.

Be consistent, always smile and give your customers more than they expect. And be sure they leave with a smile on their face. Now…..get into ACTION.