To have a truly successful business you must combine your product, no matter what it may be, with great customer service. Great customer service, in my fifty years of experience, depends on two principles: this first is what I call instantaneous gratification and the second is making sure the customer gets exactly what they want exactly when they want it, and if something is wrong “fix it quick”. On paper these two principles appear very simple but in reality they are harder to achieve.

1. Instantaneous Gratification
There are two main components to the instantaneous gratification of your customer:

• The ability for the customer to talk via any mode of communication – phone, fax, email – and receive the information requested instantly. Customers want their question answered and the best way to do this is to have the customer talk to an actual person. Have a person, rather than a computer, answer the phone and instantly reply to fax and email.
• Banishing the phrase “I’ll call you back later when I know”. Customers want their answers immediately and appreciate it when they receive their answers and solutions in the same phone call. At both Jacobs International and JI Bases our customer service department has the information at their fingertips to give answers instantaneously to every question whether it is a question of where an order is, or cost, or modifying an existing order.

2. Get the Customer What They Want When They Want It and If Something Is Wrong, “Fix It Quick”
Again, there are two simple components to getting the customer what they want.

• Don’t make the customers’ lives harder. It’s been said over and over again that the customer is always right, but that is the truth. A large part of this is not simply understanding and agreeing with the customer but making sure you do everything you can to make what they want happen. Say they want ten bases there by the end of week? Make it so. A great customer service department doesn’t aggravate the customer, they make their life easier.
• If there is a problem fix it right away. It doesn’t matter what the problem is or whose fault it is. If something is wrong make it right quickly. No one cares if the weather is bad or if the carrier damaged the product, just solve the problem and forget who is at fault.

The real benefit of customer service is loyalty. Your product may draw the customer in, but it will be your customer service that makes them stay.