I have heard this conversation many times recently, in the office, with friends and at the Customer Service Excellence Award ceremony I attended. This is a program developed by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to recognize people for their outstanding customer service. At the ceremony all of the nominees accepted their awards, had a picture taken with the mayor, picked up their snazzy pin to show off to everyone!

Before distributing the pins, the host of the ceremony thanked everyone for a job well done and reminded everyone of the importance and the impact great customer service has during a slow economy. It can make or break your business. The concept seems like a no-brainer but to my surprise, I still hear stories from friends and colleagues about their awful experiences.  Keep in mind, when dealing with your customers that they are the key to your success.  Great customer service is essential all the time and especially during this rough economic time. We want to impress them and we want them to return. Customers are less likely to return to your business if they do not get the type of customer service they expect, or better. Make sure that you always follow through. Word of mouth is an effective, low-cost method of marketing. Remember, every customer who has a good experience will share it with 1 or 2 people. Customers who have experienced negative service will share that with 8 to10 people.

Seth Godin is setting a trend. He has simple, quirky, back to basics advice in a complicated technological age. Marketers talk about him on a first name basis, Seth (like Cher) - they read his blog posts religiously, post links on Facebook and quote him in conversations.

Though his marketing insights are profound, some of the most helpful information for business people is his “common sense” observations and recommendations on customer service and sales. Here are a few favorites:

“Top Twelve Ways to Grow Your Business in a Down Market”

“The Vice President of No”

“Sell”