Customers often have underlying emotional needs that need to be met for them to feel they've received extraordinary service. For example, a customer may describe a problem they've had with your ...

A great way to provide outstanding service via email is to anticipate the next question and answer that one too. For example, a customer might email to ask if you have ...

We tend to stop listening as soon as we start assuming. It's easy to assume you know what a customer is asking for if you've encountered a similar situation many times ...

Your level of effort does not necessarily match the quality of service you provide. That's because your customer, not you, decides whether your service is good, poor, or outstanding.  ...

We tend to review the situation when things go wrong, but how about when things go right? The "after action review" is a great technique to use when your customers are ...

Many of us have to give driving directions to a customer or show customers how to walk to a particular place within our store, restaurant, or hotel. Here are two great ...

Handwritten notes can make a huge impression. Customers appreciate them as a thank you for their business because it's personal and the sender obviously put a little bit of thought into ...

You can make every customer feel like he or she is getting the VIP treatment by pointing out something you are doing just for them. Here's an example:  ...

Gold used to be the king of precious metals, and 'the Golden Rule' of customer service was a popular reminder. "Treat customers the way you want to be treated," seemed like ...

Our customers' perception of our service is influenced by whether we meet, exceed, or fall short of their expectations. When we get a chance to help set a customer's expectations, we ...

Misunderstandings can and will occur in customer service. Even if you heard what a customer said, that may not be exactly what he meant! A misunderstanding may start small, but it ...

I learned this tip from one of my clients, a plumbing company whose plumbers use a very effective customer service technique. They always take care to clean up the area surrounding ...

Providing outstanding service that exceeds customers' expectations requires us to win the moments of truth. What is a moment of truth? It is a situation that represents a crossroad ...