Last night, I went to see The Grey, with Liam Neeson. It was 117 minutes of men staring death in the eye (don’t worry there’s not a spoiler in here).  One way Liam Neeson and his fellow crash victims held off these massive wolves was by staring them down.  They were giving off the vibe that they weren’t afraid of a fight. The same goes for other less intense situations—such as customer service—stare customer service issues in the eye.

With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, people are rushing to make their bets on everything from who will win the big game to how long Kelly Clarkson’s National Anthem will be.  Betting on sports is something that has always been around and something I will never understand. It seems so risky and one of the easiest ways to lose a decent amount of money.  You can bet on, and take risks with the Super Bowl, but not with your business.

Like I’ve said time and time again, social media is an amazing tool to grow and improve your business, IF used in the proper way. It seems now that many companies have a social media outlet(s), but they don’t use it! You can’t put yourself out there and hope someone clicks on your Facebook page and decides to comment or interact with you. Social Media is a two-way street—a means of communicating and interacting with your current and potential clients and consumers.

Social media is an amazing tool for staying connected with friends and businesses. One critical step businesses are taking with social media is using it for customer service. I have written blogs about a few companies that have used social media to solve an issue within minutes. If used properly, it’s an amazing tool. Social media can help your business solve customer service issues more efficiently and more personably.

How often do you hear complaints about customer service? How often do you hear someone raving that they just received great customer service—probably not as often. I know we get upset when we have a frustrating experience, but why not get excited when we have a good one?

There are plenty of ways to impress your customers and keep their loyalty, but what are the top things you should be focused on? I have composed a list of ten things you need to do for your customers and things they want from YOU!

Yesterday I wrote about customer service agents needing to make all customers’ issues important and to treat them like they’re the number one priority. The day before I talked about being able to admit your mistakes. Unfortunately, not everyone will take my advice.  What about the customer? I’ve had some amazing customer service experiences as well as abhorrent ones. When dealing with a customer service agent with an attitude, as a customer, you must be assertive.  

I’m sure you know from business and personal experience that a happy customer will only tell a few people and an unhappy customer will tell the world. With people around the world becoming more and more connected through social media, it’s’ easy for a company to earn a bad reputation. How can you prevent unhappy customers from creating a reputation nightmare for your company?

We’ve all heard “the customer is always right” and working in customer service, you know that’s not true. However, your businesses success depends on your customers and the customer service provided. There are customers out there who have made honest mistakes and just want to make sure they aren't being taken advantage of.

Customer service representatives have the sometimes frustrating task of dealing with estranged customers on a daily basis. Yes, that's what the reps are there for, but half of the customer's frustration comes from being on hold, "talking" to a robot for 20 minutes, being disconnected, etc. What if the customer could take care of some of their issue all on their own?