Basic Customer Service protocols

I am not an expert, but want to share my some thoughts, which I think will be helpful :

Good customer service is the backbone of any business. Offering promotions and slashing the prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.

Good customer service involves bringing old customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.

Few steps need to follow, these may be just followed by you, but will refresh your thoughts for once again,

Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them. Confirm prior to any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

Listen to your customers. Let him complete and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, like 'Ok', 'I see', such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

Deal with complaints. No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. But if you solve that complaint, it may lead for business positive response.

Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

Train your staff to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, polite and knowledgeable. Do it yourself or hire expert to train them. Talk to them about good customer service regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t have appropriate rights to take this decision.”

Take the extra step. When customer arrives, Wait and see if he has questions about your product, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.

Throw in something extra. Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. A small thing, but so appreciated.

Its not a complete Customer service guide, but basic things to be followed... ;)