Good manners improve customer service. They make your customers view you in a better light. They make your interactions with customers more pleasant. Here are just 4 ways good manners improve customer service.
Greetings
If you have a business where clients come on-site, acknowledging them when they enter your premises is important. This doesn’t mean rushing over and trying to sell, sell, sell. It means making eye contact, smiling and saying Hi. If the customer wants to talk or is needing help, that opening will prompt them to ask for help. If they’re just browsing, they can do so knowing you’re happy to see them and available for help if needed.
How you address them
Addressing your customers by name, and knowing how they prefer to be addressed (Joe, Mr Blow, Dr Blow etc) shows that you take notice and respect them as individuals. Most CRMs will allow you to store that information, and to use it in mailouts etc. It shouldn’t be a huge effort for you and your staff to address customers in their preferred way.
The tone you use
Some customers prefer a friendly tone, some prefer a formal tone. Most of this will depend on how you market your business. If you’re a young, hip business – a formal tone will appear out of place. If you market yourself as a super-professional business, then a casual tone will strike a bum note with your customers. Whatever tone you use, it’s still easy to be kind, be polite and be someone you’d like to do business with.
Please and Thanks
A simple please and thank you as appropriate in a conversation can have a profound impact. They’re so easy to use, but so often forgotten these days that it’s notable when they are used. Next time you’re talking to a customer and you ask for something don’t forget to say please. And if they offer you something, say thank you. It’s that easy.
So they’re pretty basic things right? But think about how many times you see these things when you’re doing business with other companies? That’s right, not as often as you’d like. So be polite and let good manners improve your customer services.
If you’d like some more ideas, check out my previous Customer Service posts
Click here to book a complimentary 30 minute catch up to discuss how I could help you.