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	How To Improve Customer Service
	Article 6: Give Customers What They Want What do customers want? Well, they want a terrific product or service, certainly. But they want a great deal more, and if you don’t provide it, they’ll find someone who does. Give it to them and you have a customer for life. The right merchandise is just “the basic ticket into the game,” explains Karen Leland, who co-wrote “Customer Service for Dummies” (For Dummies, 1999). “Customers also want friendliness, understanding and empathy with their situation.” They want fair treatment as well, some feeling of control in the transaction outcome, or being told their options, if that’s necessary. And they want still more. T. Scott Gross, restaurateur, consultant and author of “Positively Outrageous Service” (Kaplan Business, 2004), has conducted online monthly surveys of up to 10,000 consumers for more than four years. From that, Gross says he knows what customers really want. Here’s his top five list: Knowledgeable and available sales staff. “When we want to see a sales person, we want to see one right now, yet we hate them to hover.” He acknowledges that the conundrum requires a balancing act to satisfy. Caring employees. “People want employees who care enough to say that ‘this is not right for you’ or ‘I have something that fits your needs better’ even if the price is less. They put the customer ahead of the sale.” Good value and good product knowledge. Well-organized and easy-to-find merchandise. Fast finish. “Customers have told us over and over that when they want to check out, they want to check out now. Customers hate not having enough cashiers to make checkout quick.” So how do you know what each particular customer wants most? “Start by listening and putting the customer first,” says Gross, who addresses the matter in another book, “When Customers Talk” (Kaplan Business, 2004). Drawing on his restaurant background, he notes that “if a customer says he wants a table for four and asks how soon can you seat him, that’s a hint he’s in a hurry. If he says he wants a quiet table, that’s a hint it may be a romantic evening or a business meeting. We just need to listen.”