Joel Spolsky, a software developer, has written a phenomenal article on Seven Steps To Remarkable Service. Because he didn’t have the budget to hire customer service people during the beginning of his company, Joel and his partner had to deal with the customers themselves - something I highly recommend every business owner should do in the beginning. Here are the seven things he learned (I‘ve condensed it into my own words):
1. Fix everything two ways - fix the immediate problem, but also find a deeper solution so that the problem doesn’t keep happening again and again
2. Suggest blowing out the dust - this tip is mainly for tech support people. Instead of telling customers to check on a setting, ask them to change it and then change it back. In other words, rephrase a request so as not to insult their intelligence.
3. Make customers into fans - fix their problems and you have a customer for life
4. Take the blame - you get more respect when you tell customers that it’s your fault
5. Memorize awkward phrases - this tip is for the macho men in the house who have a big ego and can’t apologize.
6. Practice puppetry - pretend you’re a puppet and don’t take things personal. Customers get angry with the business, not you personally.
7. Greed will get you nowhere - if a customer wants a refund, give it to them. Who wants an unhappy customer anyways?
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