Treat them like people.

• Don’t think of a customer as a disconnected voice on the phone.
• Don’t think of a customer as a waste of time.
• Don’t think of a customer as a pain in the ass.
• Don’t think of a customer as an open checkbook.

You will always have difficult, frustrating, stressful and downright rude clients. They’re people remember? And some people are just like that. But…

The quicker you can turn the relationship from client to vendor into person to person the quicker you’ll be successful with that client and future ones.

Find ways to open the lines of communication, meet on common ground and share interests.

Always react professionally, calmly and respectfully. Feel free to say what you think is best, what you think is right, but always maintain a tone of professionalism.

Get to know them, and the environment in which they work. Understand the motives behind their behaviors.

Losing sight of a customer as a person is going to lose you that customer. And, get jaded from bad experiences with customers, and you could lose more than just a customer or two…your business could be in peril.

Customers are people. Find out who they really are.

[tags]customer service, customer relationships, communication, small business, business[/tags]