Attend some events specifically as a fact-finding mission. Observe people who are good at this and figure out why. Choose someone who’s at ease and gathering crowds. Analyze it. This means look at their non-verbals: their gestures, posture, stride, stance, facial expressions, and hand shake. Go over and interact with them yourself. This is kind of person who will be easy to talk with and you’ll learn a lot. 2.Figure out what you’re going to do with your hands!

Sounds like a small thing but it makes a big difference. One less thing to worry about. Notice how poorly you currently do this. Is someone reaching for your hand and your purse slips off your shoulder banging against you? Do you have a drink in your right hand? Do they hang at your side, like orphans or flutter in breeze like frightened birds?

Observe who does this well, then practice in front of a mirror. Practice makes perfect.

3.Business cards.

Business cards are kind of point of whole thing. Be practical. Here’s one idea: Wear a skirt or pants that have a pocket. Keep your business cards in right hand pocket where you can slip them out easily.

4.Memorize some phrases.

As we know from Emotional Intelligence, when emotions go up, brain goes down. Therefore, prepare yourself by learning some catch phrases that encourage conversation. Generally they’re open-ended, i.e., questions that can’t be answered with one word. Examples would be: What did you think of that memo we got today; What have you heard about renovation of this building: and I noticed you’re driving a new car.

By Garrison Wynn

Have you ever called a company and been greeted with phrase “Hold, please”? How do they know you can hold? They don’t even know who you are. Maybe you can’t hold; maybe you have 10 seconds of juice left on your cell phone and your hair is on fire. Then you finally get someone on phone, only to be told, “I can’t actually help you; I’m just paid to apologize, and I’m really sorry about that.”

Being frustrated by a lack of customer service is nothing new. It just seems that in last few years, companies have become more innovative when it comes to not helping you solve your problems. I recently asked a hotel employee to help me with my luggage. He told me to hold on and he would have someone look into it. I thought, “Hey, you’re someone—why can’t you look into it?” I realize that we are as busy as we have ever been, and that many younger people were not brought up in traditional culture of customer service. But none of these excuses will protect your business in today’s challenging economy, where customers are questioning value even with companies they have known for years.

Maybe it’s time to get back to basics and make service a real priority. Sure, plenty of companies claim to offer great customer care. But raising your service standards requires more than a promise; you need to set concrete goals and establish effective procedures to meet them. Whether you own company, handle key accounts or just accidentally encounter your customers, you’ll reap huge benefits by applying following customer service goals:

On Phone

Be friendly! No one wants to send a check to people who seem to be bothered by their call.

Ask permission before putting a caller on hold. If a customer is greeted with “Hold, please,” what customer really hears is “Hang on! Someone much more important than you just called in.”