Happy Customer Service Week!

This week is Customer Service Week! It’s a great time to celebrate the customers who help your team tick. I’ll be sharing my favorite tips to celebrate Customer Service Week with your team all week. If you’re a manager who has customers your team serves, make time this week to make it extra special.

Today’s tip: Celebrate the customers your team serves.

First, know who your best customers are. If you need to look through the purchasing records, your calendar, your team’s notes, or even just your e-mail, you need to know who your best customers are. Best can be objective (most sales, most time) or subjective (favorite because they call on your team all the time, or favorite because they are the lowest maintenance).

Next, think about what you can do that’s memorable for your customers…and for your team. What would make your team stick out in your best customer’s mind? Would it be a picture of your team holding a sign that says “Thank you” that you post on your external website? Would it be some hand-baked cookies or other treats? Maybe it’s just you and other managers going to visit these customers, and offering a handshake and a warm thanks? If nothing else, a handwritten thank you note or a personal voicemail might make your customer’s day.

Last, do something! All the planning in the world is great, but if you don’t DO SOMETHING for your customers, then you’ve lost the chance to offer your thanks and to get even more sales, to make them even bigger fans of your team, or to recover from a bad experience in the past. Service recovery can be an even stronger way to build customer loyalty than doing things right the first time. Don’t let the opportunity pass YOU by!

What’s YOUR best tip for celebrating your customers during Customer Service Week?

PS Join me for a webinar this week Thursday as I share my tips on how to Recession Proof Your Customer Service.

cc licensed flickr photo by Crystl: http://flickr.com/photos/crystalflickr/190713106/