Customer Service Overhaul

Excellent article! 
Take the time to read and implement!
It has been my experience that many retailers think they are giving better customer service than they are.
Really good customer service is ‘exceeding the customers expectations’, which includes a phone call or thank you note following the customers visit to the store!
Milton 

Customer Service Overhaul                                                                              
From the Internet by DMS
We all think we know how important customer service is to being successful in retail. Then why    do we, as consumers, keep getting lousy service wherever we go?
Assuming most customers are reasonable people, the answer to the above question is:
 1. Store staff doesn't know or don't understand what the expected behavior in terms of customer    care is or
 2. Management gives the issue only lip service and does not establish firm criteria to maintain high customer service levels.
It always boils down to quality of management doesn't it?  In both of the above cases, it's management that is squarely responsible. So, before things get even worse, here are the commandments you need to put in place and make sure they are ingrained into everyone's mind:
1.   A Vision of Customer Service  Excellence That is Clearly Developed and Communicated: If you do not set the expectations right from the beginning, you can't blame anyone but yourself.
2. Recruit, Hire, Train and Promote People with People Skills: When you are interviewing for new people, look for indications of a friendly, helpful nature and ask questions probing for the level of people skills . When evaluating staff performance, make sure there is considerable emphasis on their performance in the area of customer service.
3. Measure Individual Service Performance, Report Results and Celebrate Victories: What is not measured can not be managed.  End of story. Develop a performance chart for each staff member and rate them from 1 to 10 for their Customer Service performance. You'll see a marked improvement almost immediately.
4. Solve Problems When and Where They Occur - that means immediately: Customer studies show that as long as a problem is resolved fast and to the customer's benefit, most become very loyal customers for life. Study your policies and procedures and eliminate the fluff and unnecessary steps that take up time. To speed up the problem resolution process, empower your staff to make certain decisions without having to look for management.
5.  Stay Close to Your Customer: When was the last time you took one of your customers to lunch or even a coffee? I know a lot of you are laughing at me at this point; but unless you know their honest opinion, how are you going to improve your operation? Think about it.
Review the above points in your retail environment and make sure you are 100% on top of all of it. That, in itself, would be a major accomplishment.
Milton Waldoff added this reminder:  The customer that is easiest to get back into the store is the customer that has shopped the store and been delighted with the customer service and likes the merchandise!