Free for the Giving: The best things in service situations are often free

You may think customer service requires a huge capital outlay: expensive training, high-falutin' CRM software, and thousands of dollar in expenditures Nonsense! The most important parts of customer service are free.

Here's my baker's dozen list of customer service components that are free:

1. Smiling.
2. Saying "I'm sorry", "We're sorry," or "I apologize"
3. Saying "thank you for your business."
4. Saying "thank you for bringing this problem to my attention"
5. Thanking customers for allowing you to fix their problems
6. Listeningn7. Sharing important information in a timely manne
8. Giving customers choices
9. Addressing customers by name
10. Making small talk that build the relationship
11. Relating to customers on a human level
12. Relishing your interactions with your customers
13. Enjoying your work

The point is, customer service is about many things, most of them tied to attentiveness, friendliness and empathy. We all have the capacity to employ and deploy customer service to salve our customers' wounds. It's as much a mindset as it is phraseology.

The same skills you employed while delivering newspapers, selling lemonade or Girl Scout cookies as a kid, will hold you in good stead as a sales or service professional. The best things in life really are free. Now pass them on!