I’m sure you’ve experienced excellent customer service before, and know how good it feels.

Whether you called up to complain about a faulty product and hung up the phone smiling, or had a sales person help you find the perfect laptop for your needs at a great price, you know that good customer services makes you feel listened to and valued and solves your problems.

Great customer service is one of the cornerstones of success for every business but not all businesspeople are wired to deliver world-class customer service every single time.  That’s where your skills can come into play to improve your customer service experience.

Companies like Nordstrom and Zappos are world renowned for their incredible customer service.

Did you know that there are things that you can do to ensure that you get good customer service like this almost all of the time? There are ways that you can “help people help you” with your questions, quandaries and problems which will make them treat you better.

• Be friendly and upbeat. Greet the person and smile. Even if you are upset about an issue, they will feel much better about helping you if you are not whining, complaining, or getting angry at them. See them as a person just like you and treat them with kindness.
• Give them as much information as you can. For example, if you need to buy a cell phone you should tell the sales person exactly how much you will use it, which features you want, and what you will use it for. This will help them find you a product that is suited to your needs. If you need technical help with a product, explaining the problem clearly in detail will help them determine what is wrong.
• Ask for what you want, politely and reasonably. Don’t push your luck by asking for something outrageous, but you will be surprised how many times you can negotiate a discount, waive a fee, or get a special discount just because you asked nicely.
• Thank them for their time. It really helps to let the customer service representative know that you appreciate their efforts to assist you. If they do an exceptional job and you are really happy in the end, consider passing along an official compliment to their supervisor.
• Become a regular. If you do all of these things in the same establishment frequently, the staff will get to know who you are and will likely treat you extra special because they value you as a customer.

Of course, this advice only works when the person you are dealing with is competent at customer service. Unfortunately this does not happen all the time. However, most of the time it will get you much better treatment, so why not give it a try?