If you’ve been paying attention, you know things have changed in the world of business. As customers, we are smarter than ever. We know we have more options. We know we deserve to do business with companies that help us accomplish our goals.

And we understand it’s okay to expect companies that will work WITH us as partners rather than adversaries.

Companies that ignore this will

An easy way to attract and keep more customers is to meet them where they are. This means doing things how they want (but in a way way that works for you too). When you do this customers are more likely to stay with you because you’re trying to help them. You’re not forcing them to conform to your way of doing things.

A recent study by

One of the biggest challenges any business organization faces is knowing what their customers want. It’s arguably the most important, most difficult and yet most ignored information in our organizations.

It’s important because we cannot give our customers what they want (or how they want it) if we don’t know. And guessing doesn’t count. Yet the reason customers come to us (and give us money) is to get something. They need our help in the form of a product or service. Fail to give them what they want and they’ll disappear faster than a light snow in July.

When you involve your customers, internal and external, you gain a better understanding of the true value of your services.

-Ifeoma Tete Mbuk

Logically we know when customers complain, they’re giving us useful information. But emotionally we don’t like to hear it. Especially since some customers tend to be a little rough about how they deliver their feedback. And employees get tired of being beat up by customers, all the while knowing nothing will be done to prevent future complaints of the same kind.

But Frank’s boss (above) got it

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Remember and share customer feedback

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Most companies (not all, sadly) have policies and procedures to handle customer feedback. But very few do a good job keeping track of feedback from customers and then doing something useful with it.

Like any information, customer feedback has no value if it’s ignored. I don’t mean

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Ask open-ended questions

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

A great way to learn what your customers are trying to accomplish is by asking questions that get them talking. These open-ended questions require more than a “yes” or “no” answer so they help you and your customer have a useful conversation. Conversations like this can build relationships because they help promote mutual awareness and trust.

One of the best ways to increase revenue and profits in a tough economy is to get more new customers who are already sold on your product, service or brand. These customers can be hugely profitable because they require very little marketing or sales costs. By the time they reach your door they have already heard good things about your business and they are interested in learning more. If handle them right a high percentage will become customers with little effort on your part.

A great way to serve your customers is to engage them. Get to know them. Learn who they are, what they think and how they’d like to work with you. Some studies suggest this is one of the most important things you can do to increase customer retention.

I like companies that engage their customers because it means they care and they’re smart.

It shows they care because they are reaching out to customers to get to know them. It shows they’re smart because they realize not all the answers come from inside the company. Smart leaders engage customer sand employees – they get everyone involved in finding solutions and creating opportunities.

In Minnesota a great example of this is Minnesota Public Radio, affectionately known around here  as

When we think of good or bad customer service we don’t always consider search engines. Maybe that’s because they are free services.  And we rarely have direct contact with an employee as we use a search engine. So we see them in a different context than, say, a coffee shop or an auto dealer.

But search engines, like any business, do deliver customer service. Some do it very well, like Google. Others, could use some improvement.

Here are the most recent results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, a leading survey done every year to gauge how industries and companies are serving their customers. As you can see Google is head and shoulders above the rest.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Know what your customers want

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

To deliver Amazing Customer Service, the kind that increases customer retention, you need to help your customers accomplish what they want. They come to you for a reason. They want to avoid something bad or accomplish something good. And they want your help.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Engage your customers by having fun

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

We’re hearing more and more about customer engagement as a way to increase customer retention. That’s good. Because if we engage our customers better then we’ll develop stronger relationships with them. We’ll know more about how we can help them. They’ll be more likely to trust us and know we’re in business to help them. It can create a win-win situation.