Six Customer Service Strategies That Win

You can have every product that your customers could possibly want, but if you don't treat your customers well, you can kiss your business goodbye. Numerous studies have shown that it costs more to acquire new customers than it takes to retain existing ones. Use these six service strategies to keep your customers coming back for more:

Strategy #1: Stay in Touch

Let your customers know you value their business by reaching out to them. Use newsletters, postcards, individual letters, or e-mails to deliver news about products, special promotions, and store events. (Allow customers to sign up for these missives in the store, and never send an e-mail without their express permission.) Send a thank-you note after a major purchase, inviting the customer to contact you with questions, feedback, or to discuss additional requests. Focus all these communications on letting customers know that you can solve their problems and meet their needs.

Strategy #2: Make Great Service a Priority

Excellent customer service requires training your staff and constantly reinforcing the message that customers come first. Start with the little things, such as a standard way of politely greeting people on the phone or asking that sales staff courteously greet anyone who enters the store.

Strategy #3: Store Collective Wisdom

One of the most important customer strategies is to set up a system for responding to customer inquiries or complaints. The last thing you want is for your employees to provide inaccurate information to your customers. Neither should they fail to provide a solution to a problem or quote policies that may not accurately address the situation.