Three Customer Service Mindsets

Mindset 1: You can Afford to be Generous

The most important mindset to have before engaging in communication with a customer or client is that your business is secure and that you are at a good place. Even if it's not, you have to feel that it is. Money will come your way. You will do well. You are one of the lucky ones. Most are not so fortunate. You can afford to be generous.

All great service comes from this feeling of generosity and abundance.

Think of all the examples of great service you've encountered: free refills of coffee; letting you use the restrooms even if you're not a customer; extra milk and sugar if you need it; a rep that spends a whole hour with you to answer all your questions.

Contrast those with all the bad experiences you've had: not letting you use a restroom without making a purchase; charging an additional 50 cents for extra sauce; salespeople who don't give you a minute of their time because you don't look like big money.

All terrible service comes from a mindset of scarcity.

If you really feel secure, abundant, that you have plenty to share, then this feeling of generosity will flow down into all of your interactions with customers. So share. Be nice. Give extra time and extra effort as if you operate from a place of abundance.

Start your day telling yourself: I have a lot to give!

Mindset 2: Every Interaction is a Moment to Shine

Only 1 percent of your customers really interact with the employees of the firms that renders the products and services to them.

So, when they do, that's your time to shine. Three minutes spent talking to a customer shapes his or her impression of your company more than the combination of your name, pricing, brand or product features. This is your shining moment to be the best you can be, to blow the person away with how cool it was to be in contact with you.

In the hustle and bustle of the world we live in, we tend to always just get right down to business. When someone takes even a couple of minutes to really listen to you, it's so touching that you remember it for life.

That's not just some sales technique, by the way. It's decent human behaviour. It makes life better. It makes work more fun. It's the right thing to do. And it pays off.

Imagine what you'd do if your favourite sport star or pop star or politician walks in or called. You'd drop everything, gush some praise, be thrilled that she/he'd contact you at all, and give him all the time in the world for whatever he wants. So that's how we should treat everyone that contacts us. Why not? Make time. It's how everyone deserves to be treated.

Research shows we don't smile because we're happy; we smile first and the physical act of smiling makes us happy. In the same way, the act of being sincerely interested in others and taking the time to make each person happy even if you weren't initially in the mood is a great way to be your best.

So, stand tall, smile and approach every customer with a ‘this will be my moment to shine’ attitude.

Mindset 3: Lose Every Fight

Customer service often starts when someone has a problem and is upset.

But just like you need to feel secure for your business to be generous, you need to feel secure enough to lose every fight.

Whenever a customer is upset, let the person know he or she was right, and the company was wrong. The customer wins. You lose. And you're prepared to do whatever it takes to make the person happy again.

And don't forget there is no private communication in customer service. Anything you say is likely to be shared and seen by everyone. So, you must be the best version of yourself. You must let customers win every fight.

Loud people are loud people, whether complaining or praising, so when you get a loud complaint, see it as an opportunity to do whatever it takes to make that person happy enough to become a loud ambassador for your business.

Let out to lose every fight, every day.