Service Is More Than a Smile!

Perhaps your customers are purchasing your product or services. Maybe your customers are in another department of your company. Service is more than just doing something for someone else. Service is more than a smile.

Excellent customer service is enjoying giving your customer a little more than he or she expects. Notice that I place the emphasis on enjoying. That is the real key. Giving them a little more than they expect is what Starbucks calls surprise and delight. People are willing to pay four to five times the normal price of a cup of coffee because they are buying more than coffee. They are buying the Starbucks experience.

Excellent customer service begins inside you and expands out to include and involve your customer to create an enjoyable and memorable experience. You cannot give what you don't have. If you are not enjoying the experience, neither will your customer.

Excellent customer service is a combination of mind and heart. It begins with your perception of the customer as a person, not a number, who has a need that you are happy to fulfill. It ends with your happiness that you were able to help that person and the customer's happiness for being taken care of. It means making that customer feel as though they are the most important person in your life. It is a mutually satisfying experience for everyone involved.

Excellent customer service begins with a smile but, if it is a great experience, it also ends with a smile on the face of the customer every time he or she recalls the experience.

By Dr. Bill Gould

Human resources director

Wall Street Institute, Thailand