Poll: What’s the most important part of customer service

We’re all talking about the credit crunch and economic downturn – but one thing we’re forgetting and a sure-fire way to beat the gloom is to ensure you look after your existing customers and do your best to win and retain new ones. Put simply, they are your lifeblood.
As a small business, customer service is a crucial part of how you work and an important way of standing out from your competition. Good customer service means referrals, repeat business and ongoing success. It all makes great business sense.
However, knowing how to deal with your customers in the right way is not an exact science. And with the everyday pressures of running a business, it can be all too easy to disregard new marketing techniques or improved technologies which could make a huge difference to your relationship with customers.
So in order to serve your customers effectively, it’s essential to stand back and look at all the ways you interact with the outside world, as well as the way you do things internally. Ask yourself: Is there a magic formula for keeping customers happy? You might feel that showing a willingness to help is key or perhaps having an understanding of a customer’s individual needs is what matters. Then again, you might decide that serving as quickly as possible in today’s increasingly hectic world is vital. Or are appearance and personality the secrets of your success?
Share your views in the latest BT Tradespace Business Issue of the Week:

Results from each Business Issue of the Week survey are publicised across the media to ensure the voice of UK business is being heard – loud and clear.