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	How To Improve Customer Service
	Article 1: Stand Above The Crowd You can buy copious advertising and hold big sales to swell customer traffic temporarily, but bang for the buck, nothing makes you stand out from your competitors more than superior customer service. In fact, with so many companies today providing the same products or services that your business does, quality customer service is often the only differentiator between you and your competitor in the next block. “You can get the merchandise anywhere. How you sell it makes the difference,” points out T. Scott Gross, a consultant and restaurateur in Kerrville, Texas, and author of “Positively Outrageous Service” (Kaplan Business, 2004). Attentive customer service retains customers in a way that expensive advertising can’t, creating repeat business over the years that could total many thousands of dollars in sales. And these loyal customers talk, sending their friends to you. “Referral income from happy clients is huge,” says Jennifer Kalita, principal consultant of the Kalita Group, an entrepreneurial services company in Washington, D.C. “It takes a lot more money in marketing to attract new customers than to keep your current customers happy.” Good service also lowers employee turnover because workers aren’t caught between angry customers and shortsighted management, which inevitably lowers morale. “Nobody says ‘I can’t wait to go to work in a crappy place.’ People like to work in a happy place,” says Gross. “Good customer service means you don’t have people yelling at you, so you have happier employees who stay longer.” A business with cheery employees not only make customers feel more comfortable, but also saves money on training new workers. “All you have is your reputation,” says Ken Colburn, president of Data Doctors Computer Services, an Arizona-based franchised computer repair company. “What you do today can have a huge impact on your business even a year or two from now.” If you have the resources, it’s worthwhile to bring in an outside consultant to train employees in ways to make them shine. But providing quality customer service can also be nearly free to implement. “A smile, a thank-you, looking someone in the eye, the art of listening, opening the door for someone—most of the things that really make a difference aren’t technical or expensive,” Colburn notes.