This customer service tip is very interesting. Over time any business can deteriorate, often without the business owners or managers being aware. Whenever you go to the same place day after day, changes occur but they are less obvious than if they occurred overnight. It is like looking at a photograph of yourself now and comparing it to one from ten years ago. Sadly there will be a few more lines, possibly a few more pounds and in my case a little less hair. If you woke up and saw these changes overnight you would rush to your Doctors for identification of whatever life threatening illness you have developed overnight.

Exactly the same changes can occur to your business. The day you open the doors the business is sparkling, the uniforms are fresh, the company cars glimmer and everyone has a bounce in their step. Over the space of a few years the premises can become run down, uniforms fade, company cars become dented and old, signwriting fades, carpets fade and there can be a collective run down feeling with the whole business. A friend of mine aptly describes this as business fatigue.

Stop for a few minutes and have a look at your business. Be objective and try to imagine back to the day your opened the doors. How does your business compare today to the when you started? If you are lucky, it will be better, but perhaps there are areas that could improved.
For most businesses, a revamp is required every five or so years. Many of the areas that you now overlook may need attention and often, it is necessary to get in a professional to give you a few ideas on what you can do to make your business sparkle again.

An added bonus with doing a review of this nature is that as technology has developed there are now many new and exciting options available when it comes to fitting out a business. There are some amazing new materials, communication systems, materials for uniforms and many other new developments that will help to make your business sparkle again.

The benefits to you are that this reinjection of enthusiasm and money into your business will be reflected in the attitude of your staff and the perception of your business from your customers point of view. Customers like to see that a business is staying current and fresh. It is professional and it shows a commitment to customer service that will pay for itself many times over.

We recently did a corporate makeover for a recruitment company. It was a very successful business but their name stereotyped the type of recruitment that they offered. No matter how hard they tried their customers only ever used them for one aspect of their recruitment needs.

We recommended changing the company name and logo, completely revamping the office, staff uniforms, signage and company cars. The overall process required a firm commitment from the owners and I can really appreciate their bravery in changing the name of this well known company. As it was the change worked fabulously. The entire business was transformed and there was a real metamorphism in staff attitudes and customer attitudes. The end result ws that this was a successful corporate makeover that will take the company into the next stage of its development. If the change wasn’t made the business could have been overtaken by competitors.

We live in an age where new words are invented by the minute. Techno jargon is commonplace in many industries and at times it is almost like learning a new language. Not a day would go by when I haven’t heard some new term that I need interpreted.

It is also the age of the acronym, which means that new words have been developed from the letters of a group of words. In fact there are dictionaries to help us to understand this developing new language.

Many very experienced advertising people suggest that all promotional material or advertisements should be written so that they can be understood by a nine year old. In my opinion the concept is spot on. Keep it simple and avoid using techno jargon and buzz words.

This doesn’t mean that we are implying that our customers are stupid. And as you would know from reading any of my work, I am very passionate about treating customers with respect at all times. It simply means that we should all try to make our promotional material as easy to understand as possible. By all means include the techno jargon if it is appropriate to your industry and for the specific piece of promotional material being designed, but generally, avoid it like the plague for mainstream information.

Techno jargon has its place, but strong, simple language will always prove more beneficial in the long run. Your customers will understand it completely and there will be little room for misinterpretation or confusion. We always end up back at home base, keep it simple. It is the one business principle that always works in the long run.

It can be very embarrassing for a customer to go into a business and ask for a specific product or service that they may not know a lot about. A smart and professional business will take the time to explain important issues regarding the proposed purchase and make the customer feel good about it and in no way inadequate because of their lack of knowledge.

There is another kind of business that seems to thrive on belittling their customers. If the right terminology is not used a smart comment is issued. The customer is treated like an idiot because they don’t know the difference between a triple reverse sky sprocket and a double reverse sky sprocket (like who doesn’t know the difference between these two everyday items?).

Be patient with your customers and make sure that your staff are patient. When you do something every day, you tend to have all of the answers, but when you do it for the first time, there are a lot of logical questions to be asked. Work with your customers and help to answer their questions or concerns as simply and as professionally as possible and they will appreciate it. This is good customer service and your business will be recognised because of it.

Never forget, nobody likes to feel like a fool. Keep an eye on your staff to make sure that this patience is encouraged and a lack of patience stamped out if it raises its ugly head at any stage. Patience is a virtue, but in a small business it is a lot more. Making a customer feel foolish is a guaranteed way of shortening the length of the relationship.