Suppose you were to walk into a dry-cleaner and the clerk is on the phone with another customer.  You put your clothes on the counter and all visual cues about your stance and demeanor indicate that you are in a hurry.  What would you want the clerk to do if you were the customer physically in the dry cleaner location?  What would you want the clerk to do if you were the customer on the phone?

On a scale from one to ten, how well would your customers rate your phone etiquette? Your score is only as good as your next phone call. Here are a few dos and don’ts that will help you ensure that your customers feel welcomed, connected and eager to come back.

Some Dos:

What is Customer Focus?

Customer Focus is more than Customer Service. It is an aligned whole-organization approach to customer satisfaction and service, leading to customer loyalty and advocacy. The result is sustainable profitability.

In a Customer Focused organization, Leadership, Processes and People are customer-aligned. In broad strokes this means that:

* Every action is shaped by a relentless commitment to meeting and exceeding customer expectations regarding product and service quality.

In this economy, customer service is more important than ever. You can’t survive long without loyal customers. It may be tempting to lower your price or fees but then you attract a customer who is unlikely to be loyal for long. Tough times require a renewed focus on customer service. I know it easier said than done given many of you have fewer employees as well as hiring freezes that may be resulting in lower morale. Put those thoughts and potential excuses aside for a moment and consider what you must do now.

In a recent post, I wrote about my friend’s experience at Beau Jacks, a suburban Detroit restaurant. Their experience was exceptional; so, I decided to interview the owner, Gary Cochran. I wanted to learn what he does to keep his customers coming back 3 or 4 nights a week. His restaurant is so successful that patrons are willing to endure long waits, because it’s worth it, even in Detroit’s depressed times. Beau Jack’s is also one of Jay Leno’s favorite Detroit restaurants.

Sometimes fiction can offer useful lessons for the real world. For example, one of my favorite TV shows, Burn Notice, seems to operate with some useful principles that transfer nicely to the world of customer service.

1. Help people

Every episode is about the star, Michael Westen, and his pals helping someone who needs help. The “projects” are always dangerous. They’re often frustrating. Rarely are they something Michael wants to do. Yet he always finds a reason to help. This is good because typically his “clients” have nowhere else to go for help.

As I work with companies to help them improve their customer service, some things stand out. These are things a lot of organizations don’t do consistently. Yet if they did they’d find the quality of their customer service would improve and their customer loyalty would increase.

1. Know what your customers want.

The first thing is to make sure you really know what your customers want. I know this sounds too basic to even talk about. But I’m continually amazed at how many organizations make assumptions about what their customers want without asking them.

In most organizations there is at least one person who believes in the importance of delivering Amazing customer service. But for it to work, it takes a whole team. So a customer service champion needs to get others on the team to make it a priority.

There are a couple ways to do this. The two I like best are fundamental, not overly complicated. I call the first one: “Show me the money!”

I’ve read your stories, comments, and pleas for help, and summarized them into 88 ways companies can make the naughty list. As you read these, you’ll chuckle knowingly at some, wince at some, and nod your head in agreement at nearly all of them. But as you read, I’d like you to use this list as a checklist for your own business. Think about each of these 88 behaviors and ask yourself, “Do we do this at any level?”

Here’s a quick and easy way to have better experiences when you help your customers. This is especially useful in a complaint or service recovery situation.

Thank your customers when they make your job easier.

Recently I had a technical support issue with my website host company. Because we communicated via chat, I was able to provide him with a lot of background and technical information on the problem. (I had researched the issue before contacting technical support.)

On an all-too-frequent basis, I get emails like this:

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Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Put customers before tasks

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Most of us to focus on doing our jobs well. We should. And when others on our team do their jobs equally well, it can make life easier for the whole team. The organization seems to work better.

But if we take this too far, we risk over-focusing on it. This happens when we