Today’s article is from guest author Heather Johnson.

Beyond advertising, the way you treat your customers will define your company. The best advertising in the world can’t compensate for a lack in customer service. The word-of-mouth that is generated about your company travels much more swiftly than a great advertising campaign. The best way you can avoid negativity is to treat your customers with respect. Here are some tips to follow when you are dealing with your customer base:

1. Make it easy for customers. It seems these days that a customer never knows who to speak with regardless of the nature of their inquiry. It’s imperative that you make it simple for the customer to speak with the proper party depending on their concern. Often it seems that the customer has to speak with different departments in a company to find the answer they want. Eliminate the need for the customer to travel through the cross section of your company to receive proper attention.
2. Limit who attends to a given customer. It’s unprofessional to pass a customer off to another representative if you’ve already been dealing with them. This makes the customer feel unwanted or that they’re not dealing with the best company. Whoever starts the process with a customer should be the one who finishes it.
3. Chop down the phone tree. There’s nothing more frustrating for a customer then going to a company’s website and seeing a litany of phone numbers. Invariably the one the customer chooses isn’t going to bring them to the proper department. It can be difficult to figure out how you can narrow down all the different numbers your company may have, but it’s necessary that you make it easier for the customer to contact the right person.
4. Own up to your mistakes. There is nothing more frustrating for a customer than when you’re just looking for someone to admit they were wrong. If you make a mistake then it’s crucial that you correct the error and admit that you were wrong. This will leave the customer with a good feeling about his or her experience and won’t turn them away from doing business with you in the future.
5. Humanize your call center. There is often pressure on the people you have answering phones to handle a call in a certain amount of time and to handle a minimum number of calls in a given day. Let your representatives be real human beings and let them attend to a customer’s complaint or issue in a manner that leaves the customer feeling good. Ultimately, this is more important than statistics.

About the Author:
Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for business credit card and best business credit card offers. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address
heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

I mentioned recently that I had to return some defective software to the manufacturer. While the process was unnecessarily complicated, it did have a happy ending.

Norton dutifully sent me the check to refund my purchase price. However, the check was for a little more than my receipt had indicated. After a few moments of confusion, I calculated that that extra amount was exactly enough to cover the postage I had used to return the software CD.

I have to assume that this wasn’t an accident. What that means is that whoever was opening the package noted the postage and included that in the amount to be reimbursed.

A little attention to detail and acknowledgment (in this case via reimbursement) of a customer’s efforts can go a long way to rebuilding the trust and confidence needed to regain a customer.

When you accept customer returns, do you burn bridges with customers? Or do you provide the great customer service needed to leave the door open for that customer to return?

Remember, that when you end on a good note, or even with a personal response, you can help diffuse an angry or upset customer.

Do you hold your customers to higher standards than you do yourself? Don’t get caught up in making your company so policy heavy that customers are the ones that have to bend over backwards to do business with you.

A coworker of mine told me of an interesting encounter at his dentist. As may be the case with your dentist, his has a policy of charging patients $50 if they cancel an appointment with less than 24 hours notice.

On the day of his last appointment, the dentist office called to cancel his appointment because the hygienist was sick. My friend said “you’d charge me $50 if I canceled within 24 hours so how about you give me a $50 credit?” How did the dentist office respond? My coworker told me “the receptionist didn’t like that idea very much.”

Was it too unreasonable to ask for the same thing the dentist office asked of customer? I think not. The policy of that office is to make sure patients respect the time and schedule of the dentist and office staff. Shouldn’t the office give similar respect to the patient?

At a bare minimum, only ask a customer to do something that you are willing to do. To really take your customer service to a new level, live by a higher standard. Go the extra mile and do things you don’t require of your customers but that will “wow” them.

You probably do things for your customers that they may not even realize. Sure, they may realize the benefits but they may not know you did something extra for that to happen. This is an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with customers.

If your customers knew you went the extra mile for them, you’ll create some goodwill. When you give your customers stellar service or a fabulous experience, you keep adding goodwill to your virtual savings account.

So when can you take a withdrawal from your goodwill savings account? Odds are you don’t want to plan for it. You’ll need all that goodwill when you make a mistake. If you use up all your goodwill, there will be nothing left when disaster strikes.

On a recent Southwest Airlines flight, our plane arrived several minutes early. This usually goes unnoticed but this flight was different. The flight attendant announcing our arrival at the gate highlighted the fact that we were early and said, “remember that next time we’re late and we’ll call it even.”

In this case Southwest Airlines not only built up some goodwill with an early arrival, but they casually reminded us of that fact so we would be more merciful when they are late.

Are you building up goodwill with your customers? Great! Take those opportunities to develop your relationship with customers to make them loyal for the long term. A strong relationship, built on goodwill, will cushion the inevitable mistakes you will make.

In our digital age, returning purchased software and getting a refund should be quick and painless. Unfortunately, it often is just the opposite.

Why Customers Want to Return Software

Last week I purchased Norton Internet Security 2008. This security suite for my computer promised “improved performance” and offered the anti-virus and firewall I needed. User reviews for this software were mixed but several online and magazine reviews I had read were very positive and even awarded it the “Editor’s Choice” in some cases.

Nevertheless, after I installed the software and my computer rebooted, every thing slowed to a crawl. Once my applications started loading: poof! My screen went black and my computer froze up. I had to hard reboot my computer by using the power button and then try to quickly uninstall Norton Internet Security before the computer crashed again.

Luckily, I was successful and my computer returned to its normal, happy performance. Did I try to reinstall it again? No way! I was lucky to get it uninstalled before I ended up in a never ending cycle of reboots and crashes.

Lesson learned: Your product must work the first time because that may be the only chance you get with a customer.

After I uninstalled Norton, I downloaded and installed Zone Alarm’s security suite without any trouble.

Lesson learned: If a customer’s first impression of you is a bad one, your competition is right around the corner.

Returning Software for a Refund is Painful

I had recovered from the disastrous software installation but I still had the opened box of Norton Internet Security software that I couldn’t return to the store. Why? Stores almost always refuse to accept returns of opened software. So what am I to do?

Symantec (the makers of Norton) require that I print out a form and mail both it and the software CD back to them. They’ll then take 6-8 weeks to process my refund. This process is too manual, takes too long, and is too painful.

The Better Way

Norton Internet Security already asks for an activation code during the installation. The software thus has the ability to disable and activate itself already built in. The return process should leverage this feature to make customers’ lives easier.

How about this?

Step 1: Give me an option in the software or via the website to return the product. This triggers the software to deactivate itself or even start the uninstall process.

Step 2: Once the software is uninstalled or deactivated, this fact is communicated via the internet to the vendor confirming the end user can no longer use the software.

Step 3: A credit is issued to the customer or a check is processed and sent in the mail.

Done!

The customer can keep the CD, throw it away, return it to the store, or mail it back. Any option they choose, the software is deactivated and the vendor can rest assured no one is pirating a copy.

Does your company tell customers what to do? Or does it do it for them?

Whenever I get out of my car and leave the headlights on, my car starts to ding a little warning. This ding continues until I take action and turn off the lights. It is annoying, but that is the point: the car wants me to take action.

My wife’s minivan, however has a different philosophy. When I leave those lights on and get out of the car, I’m greeted with silence. No ding. No siren. No annoyance. Instead of barking at me, the minivan simply turns off the lights.

Do you see the difference between these two?

One repeatedly tells me what to do. The other understands the situation and does it for me.

So how does this apply to your business? Let’s look at a few examples.

Anticipate Needs

A customer comes into your store to make a return. You know the end result the customer wants. You can tell the customer to call your corporate offices, or you could facilitate the return and take action. Which do you choose?

Telling your customer to handle it themselves is the equivalent of the car dinging incessantly waiting for the driver to take action.

Expend Energy Wisely

Your business has some unused capacity, inventory, or supplies. The money has already been spent on those items. You can now use those leftovers to the benefit of your existing customers.

Our cars probably use about the same amount of energy to ding at us as they do to simply turn off the lights. Why not use your energy and activities to help the customer along?

See the Patterns

Your customers often form certain behavioral patterns. When you identify these, you can make logical guesses at what they will do or need next. When you anticipate customer needs you can not only “wow” the customer but create internal efficiencies that improve your profit margins and bottom line.

Happy employees make customer interactions better. Grumpy employees will more often than not, spread their negativity to your customers.

This past weekend we drove on some of our area toll roads for the first time since they were completed. Since we didn’t have the automatic toll tag sticker, we had to stop and pay the attendant.

We stopped at three different toll booths along our way. Every time the toll booth attendant was pleasant, smiling, courteous, and downright friendly. I couldn’t believe it was happening.

In fact, I asked those in the car with me if these attendants weren’t the “happiest toll booth people on earth.”

Doug over at the Service Untitled blog recently asked: “Do happy employees give better service?”

After my trip up the toll road, I’d say: Yes, happy employees do give better customer service!

Instead of thinking about handing over yet another dollar to the toll road, I was struck by the friendliness of the attendant.

In your business, you can establish a great relationship with customers by encouraging your employees to simply be nice people. You can do this through training, role playing, incentives, and observing them in action so you can give timely feedback.

Friendly employees will connect on a personal level with customers and in so doing will eliminate a lot of customer’s concerns or worries. Because customers will be comfortable with you and your employees, their business will follow.

When you handle customer returns or exchanges, don’t let your company policy blind you to common sense.

A friend of mine told me about her recent trip to Target. She had purchased a Target brand rug for her home. When she got it home, she realized it was too small and decided to return it to the store.

She had lost her receipt but approached the customer service counter to make the return.

The employee pointed out that their policy had recently changed and that she would need a receipt to make the return for any items over twenty dollars.

The rug was clearly a Target product as it had numerous labels and stickers with their famous bullseye logo and associated verbiage.

My friend asked if she could exchange the product. She would gladly take a store credit since she was going to do some more shopping that night.

The employee’s response was no and that she would need to call a 1-800 number to get the issue resolved.

So there stood my friend and this employee at an impasse. There was no one else in line. Just the two. So why didn’t the employee help her resolve this issue?

Laziness? Lack of education on this process? Indifference?

No matter the cause, this interaction left a lot to be desired.

Contrast this experience with the famous tale of a customer returning a set of tires to Nordstrom.

Nordstrom didn’t sell tires and yet they accepted the return and refunded the money. In our story, Target obviously sold the rug and yet was unwilling to even offer an in-store credit. Ouch!

How your business handles returns and exchanges will influence if customers will want to do business with you again. Don’t let a punitive return policy prevent future sales.

In the time it takes to point out a customer is wrong, you could probably just fix the issue and have a happier customer.

I went with some coworkers to a Mexican restaurant last week for lunch. When the waitress brought out our food, she put a plate of rice and beans on the table between a coworker and myself. We both thought that our meals came with these side dishes.

The waitress told us that the side dishes went with my meal. My coworker pointed out that both our meals were in the “dinner” section of the menu where it stated that all dishes came with rice and beans.

The waitress told him that his plate was different and that she would go get the menu to show him.

She returned a few minutes later and pointed out the item on the menu. From our reaction, she realized that might not have been the best decision. She returned a few minutes later with an additional plate of rice and beans.

Is it worth it?

As a company, you serve customers. Your customers may be mistaken or wrong at times but your end goal isn’t to point out those flaws. You want to keep your customers happy and spending money with you.

If a customer is wrong, ask yourself: what is the worst that can happen? Can you act in the customer’s favor without a major impact to your bottom line, fellow customers, yourself, or others? If so, swallow your pride and take action.

Don’t let a figurative cheap plate of rice and beans stand between you and a future return customer.

Prevent Confusion from the Beginning

Once the immediate customer needs are resolved, you can turn your efforts to preventing problems in the future. With the Mexican restaurant, the menu could have been more clear in its description of which side dishes were included with which entrees.

Ask your customers for feedback. You may need to rework your marketing copy, advertising, or instructions to help your customers fully understand what they should be expecting to receive.

Setting expectations is a powerful tool for setting your business up for success. However, if not used properly, things can backfire and completely undermine your customer’s trust in you.

Our recent experience with Logoworks offers another lesson in customer relations. Their automated project management site indicates when your next logo revisions will be ready for your review.

We found on more than one occasion that when we would check back at the designated time, that the deadline was magically updated and moved a few hours later.

That new time would arrive and once again, the deadline had moved.

Missed Deadlines and Customer Perceptions

How do shifting deadlines make you look to your customers? Customers will think that:

• You can’t be trusted.
• You don’t know what you’re doing.
• You give poor estimates.
• You are probably rushing to finish the job.
• Your quality may be poor since you did it at the last minute.

All of these factors combine to completely destroy any trust your customer had in your business.

The Power of Early

Now imagine that you set a deadline and deliver your project ahead of schedule. What does that make your customer think?

• You can be trusted.
• You know what you’re doing.
• Your estimates may be off, but hey, you delivered it early!
• You do what you say you will do.

What if you can’t make a deadline?

If you know that you are going to miss a deadline, tell the customer. Notify them as early in the process as possible. You want to avoid any surprises, especially near the deadline when a customer’s expectations are highest that you are about to deliver on your commitment.

Setting Expectations

Setting proper expectations will allow you to underpromise and over deliver. This sets you up to “wow” your customer with a great experience.