10 Tips to Improve Your Customer Service

5. Communicate. Ask the extra question of your customers and prospects. Negotiating expectations with customers will leave them more satisfied when you can meet those expectations, Hyken said. But don't promise what you can't deliver on, he cautioned.

6. No mistakes. This is a goal, not reality. And when there is a mistake, an opportunity is presented: If you remedy the mistake to a customer's satisfaction, it can restore their confidence in your company to an even higher level. Hyken said three things must happen in order to accomplish this:

• fix what has to be fixed;
• do it with the right attitude; and
• do it with urgency.

7. Offer quality at every turn, both in your products and service. This must occur both internally and externally, Hyken stressed.