By Nancy Friedman, Keynote Speaker, Customer Service Expert, President, Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training.

Ok, no tips. No tricks. No BEST EVER. No amazing customer service tips. No ‘The one thing you’ll ever need in customer service.’ No magic genie blog. Just common sense, no nonsense, straight talk.

Frankly there’s very little new out there on the topic of customer service.

For those of us who have been living the customer service scene for years, it’s difficult to bring up a new item. Oh, a new social media may come your way, but the same old tips and techniques live on forever. It’s BACK TO BASICS when you come down to it. They just get re-hashed by new folks. My mother had the best saying ever:

“Nancy, there’s very little new out there, just new people doing it.” That keeps my feet on the ground and head out of the clouds. It balances me.

The old saying “The customer doesn’t care how much you know, until he knows how much you care” remains a staple in our world.

So the CARE GENE is critical in customer service. The other day I was asked can you “teach” people to care? Wow great question. While I’d love to say YES, in reality, I’m not so sure.

A friend of mine says “I don’t care” a lot. Whether it’s choosing a lunch spot, picking a movie, or who we should include to go with us somewhere. She just doesn’t seem to ‘care.’ Or says she doesn’t.

I haven’t checked, because I didn’t want to be influenced, but I’m thinking there are many ways to remember how to ‘CARE.’ Here’s mine.

1. Concentrate on what the other person is saying. Really concentrate. Most folks can’t wait their turn to talk. They aren’t listening to what is being said. When you ‘CARE,’ you listen. You concentrate. You aren’t thinking of 22 other things. CONCENTRATE!
2. Attitude – Folks that ‘CARE’ generally have a great attitude about life in general. They are happy inside and show it outside. Remember, attitudes are permanent. Moods are temporary. So it’s OK to get in a bad mood once in a while. But folks who ‘CARE’ want to get out of that bad mood real fast. They carry a great attitude with them about life.
3. Realize – The “CARE” gene realizes that the other person has pain. Some sort of issue, large or small that really matters to them. They realize it’s important to the person and so they make it important to themselves.
4. Engage – When we “CARE” we talk with the other person. Not to them. WITH them. We ask questions. We listen, we answer, we show emotion. We interact. We CARE. Folks who CARE, use sentences, not one word answers. They laugh. They engage with the person, showing full interest. Add in “EYE” contact here when it’s an in person situation. No head turning. Pay attention, give EYE contact.

ARE YOU A CARING person? Do you have the CARE gene?