In any industry, sport, or even a good game of poker, success hinges upon a confluence of many factors: Skill, experience, and favorable timing all shape the path towards becoming a champion. Still, it’s easy to get distracted from the basics and take your eye off of the ball. Players in the customer service (CS) game know this better than most.

While there’s a lot to sift through in an industry constantly turned on its head by new trends, management styles, and technologies, some basic things are constant: Coveting customer loyalty is key to ongoing business, and is accomplished through award-winning customer service. Whether you’re selling sandwiches or pushing a call center software for small business, there are now universal rules to abide by to ensure meaningful connections with customers.

Read on to learn about what we think of as the “5 R.U.L.E.S. of Working in Customer Service”: Remember to Listen, Use Good Tools, Leadership Leads, Engage Your Agents, and Swift Service Saves. Continue reading →