Service is a big pet peeve of mine… probably because I’ve done it all - telemarketing, sales assistant, administrative assistant, software support… at one time in my career. What do these type of positions have in common? Constant contact in front or on the phone with customers.

The biggest annoyances in dealing with customer service:

1. They don’t offer a solution.
2. They don’t think of alternatives to make your life easier.
3. They don’t know how to help you.
4. They don’t follow-through with what they promised to do.
5. They don’t plan ahead.
6. They make you do all the work and running around.

The best thing a company can do is train from the bottom up. The secretaries, customer service agents and administrative assistants should know your marketing message, promote the company’s culture and, most of all, know how to deliver knock-your-socks-off customer service. The best case scenario is that you will have more satisfied customers telling others about their great experience. The worst case scenario is that people will absolutely complain and not recommend your services to their friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances (just look at the popularity of such sites as epinions.com or planetfeedback.com)

Exercise:
1. Write down all the bad (business/personal) shopping experiences you’ve had
2. Next to each bad experience write down all the ways your business can promote a good experience. Jot down each step in creating the perfect experience for your customer.