Excellence in Service

Learn from nine local businesses who put customers first

By Bailey Gilliam

Customer service is the support you offer your customers from the moment they first contact your business to the months, years and even lifetimes afterward. Recent innovations have focused on automating customer service systems, but the human element in customer service is what makes excellent customer service – and that quality is indispensable.

When 86 percent of customers quit doing business with a company due to a bad experience, businesses must approach every support interaction as an opportunity to acquire or retain customers. And the only difference between a bad experience and a good experience is customer service. Even in the stickiest of situations, excellent customer service can save clients. Understanding that customer service is the cornerstone of your customer experience helps you leverage it as an opportunity to delight customers and engage them in new, exciting ways.

Excellence in customer service is achieved through personalization, competence, convenience and proactiveness. Personalized interactions significantly improve customer service and let customers know your company cares about them and their problems. To be competent, a customer support professional must have a strong knowledge of the company and its products and the power to fix customers’ problems. Convenience means offering support through communications channels your customers prefer and making it easy for customers to figure out how to contact you. And lastly, customers want companies to reach out to them proactively. Tell your customers directly of any issues that arise, and have a plan. Building your customer service strategy around these four main principles will create a positive, hassle-free customer experience for everyone who deals with your company.

Meet and learn from the nine businesses who excel in exceptional customer service: Family Focus Financial Group, Nite Lites, Equity Payments, AlphaGraphics, Budget Blinds, Akins Law Firm, LLC, Hilton Head Internists, Meals on Wheels and Low Country Shelving and Glass.