How Good Are Your Customer Service Skills? Quick Quiz ...

As I drove through town the other day I saw a sad sight. It was yet another business shut down. I hate to see that because I want to see business people thrive.

I love it when small town business owners succeed and I?m saddened when I see them fail. This business in particular was one I wasn?t surprised to see shut down. Why? As a customer I saw a very big mistake being made every single time I walked through the door and pulled out my wallet: They were not providing good customer service.

Every time I walked in to buy a coffee the reaction was as if I were a hassle to both the owner and a staff member (in multiple ways that I need not get into in this post).

It?s too bad really, because good customer service is not hard. Customers don?t expect you to move mountains, as a matter of fact most don?t expect great service to start with. Why, good customer service is so rare these days that if you provide even the slightest notion of it you?ll stand out from the crowd.

It doesn?t matter what kind of business you run. It doesn?t matter if it?s offline or online. It doesn?t matter if you?re a solopreneur or a multi-million dollar corporation. Customer service MATTERS!

How Good Are Your Customer Service Skills Quiz:

Answer these questions honestly and self-assess your customer service skills. If you want a real reality-check then I recommend you adjust the questions and send them to YOUR customers. If you respond YES to most of these questions, then you?re doing pretty good in the customer service department. If you respond NO to most, then you?ve got some work to do. Don?t end up another ?main-street (or virtual) shutdown?, OK?

Q1 ? Do you respond to potential customer questions that come in through your business or website?

Q2 ? Do you treat customer complaints as an opportunity to improve and impress?

Q3 ? Are you proud of the service or products your company provides?

Q4 ? Do you deliver what you promise to your customers and clients, every single time?

Q5 ? Do you ever offer MORE than promised to your customers and clients?

Q6 ? Do you ask for feedback from your customers, and LISTEN to their answers?

Q7 ? Do you believe in what you?re selling?

Q8 ? Is your business satisfying on a personal level? Do you feel useful and like you?re making a difference?

Q9 ? Do you try to avoid problems BEFORE they happen?

Q10 ? Do you show and/or tell your customers and clients how much you appreciate them?

Q11 ? Do you make a concentrated effort to get to know your customers?

The common thread to ALL of these questions is just a matter of showing your customer your CARE ABOUT THEM. That?s it, you don?t have to answer all of the questions with a yes. You can?t fake caring. If you?re in a business right now that, for whatever reason, you are not passionate about then it may be time to figure out where that passion for helping your customers went.

Good customer service skills can make or break your business. Take the time to care and your customers are likely to reward you by returning again and again to buy from you. Do the opposite and you?re clients are very likely to take their business elsewhere (like I did when that local business owner started being rude to me!).

Here?s a great quote to illustrate this point, you might want to print it out as a reminder of what providing good customer service really means:

?I?ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.?
? Maya Angelou

Source: http://www.marketersmojo.com/10839/customer-service-skills-quiz/

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