What is customer service?

(upbeat music) - Just this week, my dog got a birthday card from the place I order my dog food from. And they even sent him a little toy. That is so cool. What a nice surprise. I am so glad that I took the chance to do business with them. And yesterday, when I ordered from my favorite pizza place, they remembered my last order and took a dollar off because I came back. When someone makes me feel appreciated, I just want to keep doing business with them. They become kind of like an old, trusted friend. I have had a great customer day. One of the most effective and least expensive ways to market a business is through excellent customer service. Customers are an obvious requirement for doing business. And the importance of customer service is in an all time high. Businesses are realizing that providing a product or service alone, isn't enough in today's competitive economic climate. Customers are sophisticated and they have distinct ideas of how they want to be served. If you don't meet their expectations, they know easy ways to share their experience and someone else is waiting to replace you. Customer service is defined as anything you do for the customer that enhances the customer experience. Customers are an obvious requirement for success in business and you need to pay attention and ask your customers what would enhance their experience. Frequently, what we think they want and what they really want and would appreciate are two different things. One of your main goals should be achieving customer satisfaction. You want your customers to have a feeling of contentment when they do business with you and when they think back about their experience. Some great examples of customer service are, calling customer by name, easy returns without a receipt, how to videos about your product on YouTube, suggesting a less expensive option, conveying care and encouragement, a special customer appreciation event, providing solutions to problems that might not be super obvious. Now what will delight your customers is really dependent on the industry or offering you have. You'll want to get creative and offer great experiences that feel unique to your company. Finally, this is what I want you to do. Think about the customers that represent a big chunk of your business. What could you do to give them a wow moment? Write down two things that you could easily do to convey excellent customer service. Shoot for ideas that don't cost much if anything, then jump in. Start the wow.