Any business owner who doesn't concern themselves with customer relationship management (CRM) strategy and technology will quickly find themselves out of customers. Today, personalized customer service is more important than ever before. Thankfully, the technology exists today to assist companies large, and small, with CRM as a strategy, and CRM as software.

Let's go over some important don'ts when it comes to customer service.

Don't make promises you can't keep — Always under promise and over deliver because you don't want to set expectations to impossible heights that can't be met. By giving customers more than they expected you wipe out any room for complaints or problems that come with not living up to expectations.

Don't forget to update your FAQ — Most business websites have a "frequently asked questions" area, called an FAQ. It is important to keep this area updated so that you don't accidentally give old or erroneous information to a customer. Many customers who are computer savvy will use this FAQ first, so you want it to be as complete as possible.

Don't be rude — Sometimes customers can be very stressed out, especially when it comes to money. It is important that customer service reps are trained not to react in a rude way but to defuse issues by being super polite and by letting the customer know that they understand and are listening.

Don't forget to be fair — Most customers care about fairness and won't ask for the moon and stars, so listen when there is a problem for the underlying solution that will make both of you happy. Most customers reveal the solution they are looking for during conversation and you'll hear it if you're listening.

Don't forget to say thank you — This is so important, and often over looked, but always remember to thank your customers because without them you wouldn't have your business. They don't exist for your benefit, you exist for their benefit.

Don't take a long time to answer your customer — Customers live in a fast food, microwave society today. They expect everything right now, not tomorrow, and certainly not the day after. Send customers personalized acknowledgement of communication immediately.

Don't hide important information — Make it easy for your clients to contact you and find important information such as costs, warranty information, and so forth right on your website. If you make all this info easy to find you'll promote trust between your business and clients.

Don't treat customers the same — Customers expect personalized treatment today, they don't want to be just an account number. With a good CRM software program every single contact made between your business and the client can be recorded, so any customer service rep can have that information at their fingertips.

Don't avoid personal responsibility — If it's your fault, own up to it, take responsibility. Once you take responsibility for an error, then work as hard as possible to make it right.

Don't lose track of important information — With today's CRM software, it's easier than ever to keep track of client information, including all correspondence and interaction with any part of the company. Therefore, there is no excuse to lose track of important information.

Let's end with one Do: Do check out this awesome and interactive customer service infographic!

 

You may also like: 

6 Great Examples of Customer Service http://www.thinkaboutcrm.com/6-great-examples-customer-service

The Importance of CRM Software in Customer Interaction http://www.thinkaboutcrm.com/importance-crm-software-customer-interaction