The customer service team is generally not given the same attention as the more "important" people in the company (you know accountants, marketers, sales...). But being good at it is not easy. Lots of people are really terrible. And there are others that shine in the service world.

So why is this even important? Because how your customers are treated is huge. Arguably the most important factor in a business. Don't believe me? Think on this...

How customer service has rocked my world, and made me super loyal in the process

I headed out of town last weekend and I needed to rent a car. I did my research, checked out a bunch of different companies. Everything (price, car) was pretty much the same across the board. So what did I base my decision on? You guessed it - a past customer service experience. I chose a company that I had rented with before. They were friendly and treated me well. They seemed to enjoy working for the company. Their service made me believe something about the company.

Or how about the small company that delivers fresh organic product to my door. Things sometimes go awry. But, they treat me so well that I honestly don't care if they make mistakes once in a while. As soon as I contact them, they get back to me. Sometimes, they even call me first before responding to my email (gasp!) And now, I am 100% positive that if I have a problem, they will be there for me. I am completely loyal, and it's because of the customer service.

Have a customer service person or team? Get them going!

Find ways to make them love working for you. Because you can tell immediately when you talk to someone if they hate their job. Or they hate the company. Or the product. Unless the person you have is really good and can fake it, but trust me, they will burn out or leave and you will have lost a rock star. (And if the problem really is your company or product, forget customer service and deal with that first!)

Make them feel like they are a part of the team. Ask for their input. Include them in processes. Give them the chance to share their experience and expertise. You just might get an insight or a different perspective that could be very valuable to you. They are the closest people to your customers. They interact directly with them. Know intimately what problems/concerns/worries your customers have. The next best thing to asking your customers is asking your customer service team.

Make it clear that what they do is important. There's nothing worse than an employee thinking "it doesn't matter how I treat this customer - no one is going to notice/care/know." Ask them to report on their activities and keep track of their interactions. Tell them they are doing a great job. Share their successes.

Have processes in place and empower them to take action and make decisions. Clearly articulate expectations about how they should handle common or difficult situations.

But, also make it clear that rules were made to be broken. Each situation is different and the usual response might not work. Give them the flexibility to deal with unique and unexpected situations.

Are you a small business one-man or woman show that covers customer service (in addition to everything else)? You have a great opportunity...

Give your customers the personalized service that they just won't get from a huge company. Try these steps:

Smile when you are talking to people. Even if it's over the phone. Even if you're having the worst day ever, or you can't believe the person on the other end is actually wasting your time with that question. Fake it.

Get back to people. Don't leave them hanging. Set up an auto-responder for your online contact form. If you can't get back to them right away for whatever reason, take a moment to tell them. And then follow up as promised.

Take the few seconds needed to personalize the correspondence. Absolutely feel free to use stock responses to save time, but address them to the person. If you had a conversation or a personal connection of some sort, reference it in your response. Show that you were actually listening or paying attention. People love to feel important and valued.

Same goes for answering ALL questions. There's nothing worse than getting a stock response that only answers half of what you asked. A little extra leg work goes a long way.

If you made a mistake, own up to it. Take their complaint seriously. Don't offer minimum compensation in the face of a very critical complaint. Do what you can to make the situation better. Sometimes, all it takes is acknowledgment of what happened and honest intentions to make good. People are used to bad treatment, especially from big companies. Here's your chance to wow them.

When dealing with an irate, rude, irrational customer, resist the temptation to give them a taste of their own medicine. You must tread lightly with unhappy, demanding customers, as studies have shown time and again that people talk a lot about negative experiences. Challenge yourself to be as calm as possible in the eye of their storm. Yes, there is a very good chance that you won't find a way to satisfy them (if they are the type of person that just plain likes to complain, nothing you do can make that go away). Just don't give them a reason to be even more unhappy with your company. Even if you've decided that you don't want this person as your customer, it's not an excuse to treat them badly. Are you also willing to lose their friends, family, acquaintances, the nice man they start a chat with on the bus, their 5,000 Twitter followers? You just never know.

Consider the power of a white lie. This can save you sometimes. Honesty is usually the best policy, but if the truth in the given situation will make things worse (i.e. I didn't call you back for a few days because this is the 6th time you've called this week and quite frankly I've had enough), see if you can get around it. Saying that your phones were down sounds much nicer now, doesn't it?

Thank your customers every chance you get. Don't let them ever forget that you appreciate them.

It's time for your company to bow down to customer service. Your customer interface is the lifeblood of your business. The greatest marketing/product/whatever won't help make up for poor service and unhappy customers.