1. Have a person answer the phone

The customer satisfaction advantage of this will far outweigh the cost saving of a computer answering or putting people through voice mail jail. Don’t try to out source this to a foreign country either; you lose your advantage if your customers cannot understand the person speaking.

2. Make devoted customers

When you solve a customers problem; when you fix it… they are going to be more satisfied and appreciative of your company and services than if they had never had a problem.

This starts with being good at what you do, defining good customers and having a customer satisfaction focus.

3. Respond to problems now and for good

Empower your staff to make it right in the moment and then investigate what went wrong and fix the underlying issue, so you do not get the same complaint ever again. 

Is this worth doing? Consider that every air accident is investigated in detail and changes are made from those investigations. That’s a major reason air travel is very safe.

What if you investigated every customer satisfaction issue and responded by making changes to eliminate it from happening again? Would your products and services improve?

Many companies are improving customer satisfaction by having guidelines and then letting their employees use their common sense to solve problems as soon as possible. But if you do not have a system in place to track down why the problem occurred, it will just keep popping up over and over again.

When the same problem keeps coming back over and over, you wear your staff out with having to deal with it.

4. Get the corrosion off

I recently called my cable company because the internet connection was down. The tech support person asked me to unplug the cable from the wall and re-plug it in because, “…it can get corroded and interfere with things.”

So I did it and then we proceeded to find the real reason. Afterwards, I was thinking about this reason they gave and the action I took. When other techs have asked me to “Unplug and re-plug in the cable”, I just tell them I already checked it. Normally I would never unplug and re-plug the cable - I know the darn thing’s hooked up!

So why did I do as requested this time? It was the way it was phrased. It did get me to check the connection thoroughly , which the cable company knows is a common reason people have problems. And I didn’t have an ego response.

Your logical requests for a customer to check for something can be phrased in a way that gets you the action necessary, and protects your customers ego.

5. Is it smart to Under-Promise?

There is a common myth out there to "Under-promise and Over-deliver".  I disagree with this notion completely.  To under-promise is a form of manipulation of your customer, and in the long term it doesn’t work.  If you constantly promise in six days and deliver in five, the customer will grow to expect it in five, notwithstanding what you might say about six.

If you then deliver in six days one time, your customer will complain.  When you counter that you promised it in six days, not five, the response will be, "but you ALWAYS deliver in five!"  Your actions are what your customers will follow, not just  your words.

As an alternative to under-promising and over-delivering, how about not promising anything you are unwilling or unable to deliver. In other words, stop promising based on hope.

Then still find ways to over-deliver. That way, there is no manipulation at play, and you will build stronger relationships with your customers.  It also forces you to work on  your business (rather than in it), finding new and creative ways to serve your customers better.  Which reputation do you want to build, one of promising well and falling short, or one of delivering on what you say?

Rather than maximizing customer service, you might consider shifting your emphasis to providing the appropriate level of customer service (your inputs - what you do) to maximize customer satisfaction (their perceived outcomes).

By focusing on the satisfaction level of your customers, you will gain and keep more customers at a profit, further enabling you to grow your business, practice or career consistent with your goals and commitments in life.