Do you need to stand out from the crowd of competitors around you?  Do you want to be remembered when your clients are deciding where to invest their hard earned resources?

Service is dying in the United States.  Everywhere we look, an epidemic of apathy spreads its disease.  Industries that traditionally emphasize service (eg. foodservice and customer service by phone) are continually adopting lower standards to accommodate lackluster performance.  What is missing?

Service begins with the idea of active listening.  Our era is focused around each of us having the ability to access information easily, but we can often feel that our voices are lost amidst the cacophony of voices around us.  When was the last time that you felt that you were completely heard and understood?  Listen to your clients.  Listen to what they say, to what they mean.  A huge piece of listening is to intentionally engage your mind with what your client is saying.  Intentionally engage.  If you are detached, they will feel your distance acutely, and you will lose effectiveness.  Get rid of distractions, and focus your attention solely on them.  Make them the most important thing in your world, if only for that moment.  Your attentiveness to them will make a greater impact than you can imagine.  People are used to being ignored and marginalized.  The respect you give them when you make them your priority will resonate instantly with them.

Service requires a genuine desire to contribute.  You must understand that your client is a valuable human being who is trusting you with an important piece of their life.  Business decisions that they make will impact them personally.  Value what they say.  The desire to impact someone’s life positively is unusual to the point of extinction.  I am not talking about putting up a façade of empathy.  If you have ever seen a hypocrite, then believe me when I say if you come to the table trying to manufacture a mask of interest, you will be found out.  There are very few things more detrimental to a relationship than phony interest.  Suffice it to say; go genuine, or go home.

Service requires transparency.  You must be willing to put yourself in a vulnerable position.  I am not advocating placing unlimited trust in someone that you do not know, but honesty is always the best policy.  Communicating in an open manner, especially when it is to your disadvantage to do so, will create a level of trust unobtainable in any other way.  Please temper this statement with this caution: carefully weigh your words to ensure that they are palatable.  Criticism is almost never an appropriate choice, whether it be directed toward competitor, co-worker, or client.  Be generous with your praise towards the people around you, and very miserly with criticism.

Cultivate principles in yourself, and in your company, of honesty, valuing your clients, and transparency and wrap them all around a core of listening.  Listen carefully and you will know what they want and what they need.  Listen, and they will remember and feel that you heard them.  Listen, and you will find the core of 5-star customer service.

World class customer interactions are central to our business model at Classy Llama Studios.  This is the first of a series of five posts that I will be writing to relay aspects of our business development strategy specifically related to customer service and its vital role in crafting success for our clients.  Since implementing this strategy we have been able to change the way that our clients interact with us, dynamically impacting both their satisfaction with our work and our ability to hear and apply their business vision effectively.