Customer Service - Customer Loyalty

Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going the extra mile to provide outstanding customer service is the first step to customer loyalty. But there is more. Of course - your products and services in general need to be good. If you offer lousy uptime there is not really a reason to be loyal when being a customer. You just don't deliver, period.

Here are a few more suggestions to gain customer loyalty.

1) Be smart. Be smarter than your customers are. Make sure you and your staff always (no exceptions) have more answers than your customers have questions. Most people are very loyal to expertise and proven skills.

2) Pay Attention. Pay attention to what your customers really want from you and what they really are hoping to find. If you see a pattern - follow it and adjust accordingly.

3) Attitude and outfit. Show positive attitude. Always be on time; never ever run late when a customer is involved. Be professional, act professional. If you meet with a customer - don't look like coming from a .COM company (even if you are) where shorts and T-Shirts are business attire. Don't over-dress either.

4) Dump any strict policies. Don't make customers think, that doing business with you is a risk. Be generous and flexible. Every situation is unique - so can be your decisions. If a customer is not satisfied, give him the money back and try spinning this into an even bigger sale.

5) Don't hire unlikable people. Nobody likes to give money to someone they don't like. Even if your staff might never really talk to customers and only communicates via email or forums - a personality will always shine through. A customer will feel after a while, who he is dealing with.

6) Don't be pushy. Don't try to push a customer to something they don't want, they don't need or they are not sure about. Show options, be patient. Customers like that more than a stupid sales pitch.

7) Offer superior products. Add a little more to each product or service than necessary.

None of these things alone with get you loyal customers, but a combination of things will make it very difficult for a customer to leave. If you get a customer to this point, you are able to ask for a higher price for your products and most of them will be happy to pay a little more so that they can continue to enjoy the service and the products that you provide.

This article can be published as long as a live return link to http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com is provided.

About The Author

Christoph Puetz is a successful small business owner (Net Services USA LLC) and international author.

Guides, Tutorials, and Articles for small businesses - http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com

Car Insurance | Car Rentals | Health Insurance | Weight Loss | Life Insurance

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

Make Your Customer Your Friend
The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is to say it's a yellowish-green fruit about the size of an mid-sized watermelon. It has a thick skin of spikes, and a rich bitterish-sweet fruit.Known as the King of Fruits, it emits an overpoweringly pungent smell that lingers on for days, hence it's an item that's banned in hotels and airplanes. To those unaccustomed to its strong smell, it's something they wouldn't touch with a six-foot pole. But in Asia, this is an all-time local favorite.As much as I enjoy the fruit, you'd never find me volunteering to go out and buy it from the many roadside shacks that spring up each 'durian' season. The reason is simple - carrying a trunkload of 'durians' home would mean that my car would end...(related: Customer Service)

Become A Customer Enthusiasm-guru!
One thing all successful small business owners have in common is the knowledge that their business is based on enthusiastic customers. Despite their multi-tasking titles of bookkeeper, service provider and sales-manager, their most important title is Customer-Enthusiasm Guru.Your question, undoubtedly, is how do I find time in my unbelievably over-loaded schedule to become a customer-enthusiasm guru? Following are a few quick steps you can take to focus on your customer in everything you do:1. Evaluate your customer base. Who are your best customers and why? What similarities do they share? What are their core needs and how do you solve ...(related: Customer Service)

Making The Connection: Customer Relationships That Build Your Business
Have you ever wondered why you often find a coupon tucked inside your cereal box, or get invited to a customer preview sale at your favorite department store? Those companies know that their existing custome...(related: Customer Service)

How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus
Q: I just discovered that for the past six months I have been billing a client half of what I should have been. Should I just include the total of the past due balance on his next bill or contact him first to let him know that it's coming? This client has been difficult in the past, so I'd rather not deal with him until I absolutely have to. My partner, on the other hand, thinks we should call the client and let him know what's going on before sending the bill. What do you think?-- Louis K.A: I think your partner is right. If you think this client has been difficult to deal with in ...(related: Customer Service)

In The Villa Of The Sick Cat -- A Lesson In Customer Care
If you're a pet owner, you know the stress of having a sick pet and you know that having a great veterinarian is a wonderful thing. My cat, Zoe, came down with a nasty infection that had me racing off to the vet's office last week with an unhappy, howling kitty in tow. (She's doing much better now.)This was my first visit to this v...(related: Customer Service)

Difficult Customers - Theres No Such Thing
A couple of years ago I had a call from a Customer ServiceManager working in the paper industry. He wanted me to run aseminar for his team, on "How to Deal with DifficultCustomers".I had several telephone conversations with this managerorganising dates, times and getting to understand hisbusiness. If I was to describe his style on the telephone Iwould use words like, businesslike, cold, curt and somewhatimpatient. I started to realise that if I was one of hiscustomers then I might have been a bit "difficult". Hecertainly knew his business and I don't think he was a badperson but warm and friendly - forget it.There are actually very few genuinely difficult customers inthe world. And I hear you say - "we've got all of them".However the majority of customers in the world arereasonable people. They may not think the way, look ...(related: Customer Service)

Carpet Cleaning In Surrey
Like any business, carpet and upholstery cleaning requires excellent customer service and great value for money. There are a number of ways in which one can obtain these. People have studied the art of customer service for many years, striving to find the right balance between giving hte best service they can, while still making a profit large enough to survive on.Customer service is defined as how the customer is treated or served. By offering special discounts such as new customer discou...(related: Customer Service)

Customer Feedback: Everyone Has An Opinion - Use It!
Have you ever been in a department store and known exactly what you were looking for but couldn't locate any staff to help you find it? Think of your website as your very own department store, and your contact numbers, email addresses, and FAQ's navigational buttons as your staff. Without these handy interaction tools, your purchaser will get frustrated and E-shop somewhere else.It is important to provide your customers with ways to ask questions or give feedback. We are a curious bunch of people in th...(related: Customer Service)

Making Customer Satisfaction Surveys Work
Why bother? Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although new customers ...(related: Customer Service)

Cheap To Keep
You've heard it all before when it comes to stats about customer retention. Acquiring a customer costs five to 10 times more than retaining one. Repeat customers spend, on average, 67 percent more. After 10 purchases a customer has referred as many as seven other people.So, if your focus is on acquiring new customers instead of keeping the ones you have, you are off the mark. Here is a brief overview on how to retain customers....(related: Customer Service)