Have you analyzed your customer service practices recently? It’s not enough these days to have an outstanding product or service; if someone is unhappy or can’t reach you with a question, they will be quick to bash you on social media or online review sites. Often these bad reviews are what people notice over the good reviews.

If you want to develop a reputation for being the “Neiman Marcus” of customer service, here are three tips that will ramp up your reputation:

1. Be Responsive

Frustration will set in quickly for customers who can’t get a quick answer to their questions. Have a process in place for answering emails or phone calls quickly and how to handle weekend inquiries. If you have specific office hours, make them public on your website, have them listed in your email signature, and certainly mention those hours on your phone voice message.

2. Be Friendly

Follow the old saying of, “Kill ‘em with kindness.” You can never go wrong being friendly and patient, even if your customer is yelling or rude. Very often when they hear that they can’t rattle you, their temperament will calm down. The same is true for rude or unhappy emails. This is where having canned responses can help because then you can just copy and paste the response without being tempted to answer in a rude tone.

3. Listen (and Read) Carefully

People want to be heard and they want quick results. If your customer explains their problem, they want you to respond with an appropriate response, not with the standard canned response that doesn’t apply to them. For instance, if they say to you they’ve already tried xyz to solve the problem, don’t suggest to them to try xyz. The same is true for emails. Canned email responses are great ONLY if they address the actual problem.

Be the Ultimate in Customer Service: Hire a Qualified Team

Solopreneurs certainly know their own products and services inside and out but handling customer service calls can be time consuming and emotionally draining. Hiring even one customer service assistant allows you to delegate that task so you can be more productive on the things you love most. Also, as a solopreneur, it can be emotionally difficult to hear people unhappy with your products or services, so allowing someone else to deal with those calls won’t bruise your confidence.

If hiring an assistant or a whole team scares you, join me on my upcoming webinar, 5 Signs It’s Time To Hire A Team (and What to do Right Now to Fix Them). We’ll discuss the common fears about hiring or outsourcing and I’ll give you some action steps to overcome those fears. See you there! [INSERT REGISTRATION LINK HERE]