Don’t you love it when you receive great customer service? You feel good about the company and want to continue doing business with them.

Conversely, few things can be as frustrating as a bad shopping experience. You feel angry about how you’ve been treated and are sure to take your future business elsewhere.

Sales and service providers say the public is getting harder to please, and customers say good service is getting harder to find. Who’s right? The answers may be in front of your face.

If you look in the mirror you may see a grump staring back at you. If you haven’t checked lately, you probably haven’t had time. Everyone is so busy with what they’re doing; they’re not paying attention to how they’re doing it, and the response they’re getting as a result.

Sales and service providers share the same life challenges as those who utilize their products and service. Many are frustrated by an economy that can’t find bottom, scared by a conflict that can’t find peace, suffocated by a season that feels like a wet blanket, and frightened by a job market that is in no hurry to turn around. It’s not surprising they act as they do.

Customers can be easy to deal with, and they can be rude and disagreeable. They can fray your last nerve and set your teeth on edge. They’re not always right, so why pretend that they are?

Service providers can be heaven-sent, meeting and exceeding the expectations of those they serve. Or they can be humorless, colorless, cold and seemingly insensitive to needs of those who need their help.

As cooperative or overbearing as customers can be, they pay the salaries of those hired to serve them. These customers haven’t the patience, money, or good will to fritter away on those who serve them badly. They want more with their change than a grunt and a package shoved their way. They want more than an automated phone response that provides every option but the one they want.

The best client responders know that, and react by listening, clarifying, and solving the problem without creating a new one. The best ask the right questions before giving the answers; they follow-up and follow through. They de-personalize the complaint and personalize the reply. They know that the best service combines logic and feeling; they honor both and value each.

Employers can pay their bills when customers pay theirs, so there should be strong incentive on management’s part to see that customers buy and buy often. Sales/service staff are on the front lines when it comes to meeting, greeting, and satisfying the public’s need to get in and get out with as little fuss and bother as possible. Management creates and maintains the infrastructure that connects and supports everything that runs behind the lines; from inventory and quality control to delivery and set up. It is management’s job to model good customer service by training their employees well and treating them with respect.

The following comments describe a recent sampling of bad behaviors that are sure to turn off prospective customers:

“Sales associates who are so involved in personal conversations that waiting on me and the seven people standing behind me, seems to be a real inconvenience to them.”

“The old bait and switch technique! Going into big box stores for advertised products, getting three quarters of the way through the purchase only to find, at the last possible moment, that the advertised product isn’t in inventory but surprise! a more expensive model is.”

“Brick and mortar retailers that don’t back their products, insisting that the consumer take on the burden of repackaging, shipping, waiting, and hoping that they’ll be reimbursed or the item repaired, all while knowing that the effort won’t be worth the outcome.”

On the flip side, here are some customer service techniques that are not only valued and appreciated, but bring customers back for more:

“Sales associates who demonstrate creativity in solving your problems, and do it with a pleasant, helpful, and respectful manner.”

“Employees who have an upbeat, “can do” attitude; who clearly enjoy their work and want you to have a good experience, too.”