How to Provide Great Face to Face Customer Service

Many customers rank customer service as the most important aspect of a company, even over price or quality. Providing great customer service in a face-to-face situation can be tricky when customers are angry or overbearing, but keeping a positive attitude and doing everything you can to help resolve the customer's issue will assure they will keep doing business with you.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Prepare for your customer service interactions before the work day even starts by focusing on the day ahead. Leave all your non-work problems and concerns at the door. Remember that your customers aren't going to accept mediocre service from you because you had a bad night.

2. Dress the part. If you are in a face-to-face customer service situation, you should make a good impression by maintaining your wardrobe and hygiene. Dress as professionally as your particular position calls for, and even go beyond that if your job allows.

3. Have a working knowledge of your company's products or services, and brush up on any new policies when you have free time. The more you know about your job, the better service you can provide your customers.

4. Listen to your customer's concerns in their entirety. Even if you have heard the same complaint a dozen or more times that day and you already know how to fix the issue, most customers feel better about an interaction with a company if they are allowed to fully vent their frustration before getting a solution.

5. Forgive overly angry customers, and forget about their remarks. The customer isn't mad at you personally, they are upset with the situation or the organization, so don't take it to heart when a customer is rude to you.

6. Let customers know if they are crossing the line from anger at the situation to personally attacking you. Even though it is your job to listen to customer's complaints, it is not your job to be verbally abused. Always remain calm and courteous, even when asking a customer to lower his voice or stop behaving in a particular way.

7. Apologize if there was an issue that caused the customer to be frustrated, even if it wasn't your fault or the fault of the company you work for. Expressing empathy to a customer will give them a much better opinion of your organization.

8. Keep a smile on your face, and never let an angry customer visibly affect you. If you remain calm and helpful the customer is much more likely to walk away satisfied.

9. Offer your customer multiple options. Customers like to feel like they have choices, so phrase questions or offers in several different ways.

10. Thank your customer at the end of each interaction. The customer chose to come to your establishment and spend their money there, so let them know they are appreciated.