If you want your front-line staff to remember the essentials of customer care, there’s no better way to teach them than with the ABC of Superior Customer Service.

A is for Attention to Detail. Because when customers know you care passionately about the little things, they’ll know you care a great deal more about the big things.

B is for Benefits which is all your customer wants you to tell them.

C is for Complaints, your free marketing service.

D is for Dedicated staff, because when the team is fully engaged, customer loyalty goes up by two-thirds.

E is for Empowerment which means trusting and training your staff to do whatever it takes to thrill the customer.

F is for Feelings. As the Scottish Life advert says: “Make each customer feel like you’ve held the door open whilst laying your jacket across a puddle and then rescued their kitten from a tree.”

G is for Going Out Of Your Way, just like the engineer who took a 50-mile detour on his way home from work just to deliver a phone to a customer who had been waiting all day for it.

H is for Hi-Tech, Hi-Touch, because when things get complicated, that’s when people want the personal touch.

I is for Ichiban, the Japanese word for “wanting to be the best”.

J is for the customer Journey, which you must know every inch of.

K is for Kaizen, another Japanese word which means “continuous improvement”.

L is for Loyalty, which you buy by engaging their minds and piercing their hearts.

M is for Moments of Truth, those hundreds of opportunities every day to turn their heads.

N is for Now For Something Extra, that ends every customer interaction on a high.

O is for Observing your customers’ needs before they know them themselves.

P is for the Pride that staff feel when they know they’re in a valued profession.

Q is for Quality: of product, of service, of manners, of courteousness.

R is for the golden Rule: the customer is always right, even when they’re wrong.

S is for Sincere Smiles, that aren’t false but melt the coldest hearts.

T is for Tact, the one thing your customers will notice but you must pretend not to.

U is for Underpromise and Overdeliver, the simplest way to make someone’s day.

V is for adding Value because there’s nothing so precious as your time, your care and your attention.

W is for the Wow Factor, when you stop them in their tracks.

X is for Xtraordinary service that is out of this world.

Y is for Your Mum Was Right, because it’s all about respect.

Z is for a good night’s Zzzzz’s after a great day’s work.

Practise these attitudes and skills, and you’ll love your job and your customers will love you.

© 2005, Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com

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