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“Customer service includes everything from greeting a customer and thanking her for her business to delivering what you promise and doing whatever it takes to satisfy the customer,” says Tschohl, whose company has developed more than 26 customer-service training programs for clients throughout the world. “Providing your customers with exceptional service will give you and your organization a competitive edge by increasing customer loyalty.”

When Tschohl launched his first customer-service training program in
January 1980, he based it on six principles. “Those principles are as
valid today as they were then,” he says. They are as follows:

1. Feel good about yourself. “We tend to live in a negative world and
   to think negatively,” Tschohl says. “It’s critical that you feel good
   about yourself, that you are confident, enthusiastic, and positive.
   Each of us is responsible for how we feel about ourselves. You must
   believe in yourself, concentrate on your strengths, and recognize the
   importance of your role. Use affirmations and visualization. Read books
   on self-improvement and strive to be the best you can be. See yourself
   as you can be, not as you are.”
2. Be courteous. “It takes no more time to be nice and polite than it
   does to be rude,” Tschohl says. “Every customer wants to feel important
   to you and your organization. Treat them with courtesy and respect.
   When you do, they will return to you time and time again.”
3. Give positive communication. “Smile, call customers by name, and
   give specific, genuine, sincere, and timely feedback,” Tschohl says.
   “When you communicate positively, you form a connection with the
   customer that says, ‘I am pleased that you patronized my organization, I
   value you, and I am here to ensure your needs are met.’”
4. Perform for the customer. “Customers have the right to demand
   performance,” Tschohl says. “They aren’t interested in your problems
   and excuses; they want you to take care of them. You can be polite and
   courteous but, if you don’t do what you say you will do, you will not
   meet the standards of good customer service. If you say you’ll call a
   customer on Tuesday, do it. If you say you’ll ship the product on
   Friday, do it. Do what you say you will do—and do it with speed and
   accuracy. If you ship a product when you say you will, but you ship the
   wrong product, you’ve taken a giant step backward.”
5. Listen carefully. “Few employees do this,” Tschohl says. “If you
   don’t listen to what the customer is telling you, you cannot give that
   customer what he needs. Listen to the customer, then clarify what he
   has said by repeating it: ‘Ted, let me repeat what you said so I’m sure
   I’m on the right track.’ Ask questions, get involved, and show that you
   care.”
6. Learn and grow in your job. “If a customer asks you to explain the
   difference between product A and product B, she’s asking you to provide
   more than the difference in price,” Tschohl says. “Study your
   organization’s products and services—as well as those of your
   competitors—so that you can provide your customers with the information
   they need to make a purchase decision.”

Tschohl admits that these six principles might appear to be common
sense, but he adds that common sense seems to be in short supply these
days. “If you focus on these principles, these fundamentals of customer
service, you will keep your current customers and attract new
customers. You also will greatly increase your chances of being
promoted.”

For a free copy of Tschohl’s Personal Success Plan for Excellence in
Customer Service, log on to www.customer-service.com and click on
“brochure request.”