As a small business if you want to set yourself apart from the rest, then you will need to focus on providing excellent customer support. As a small business you may not have many employees, and often you are the one left carrying the torch. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially in light of the fact that you will be able to manage your customer service more effectively. Let's take a look at what steps you need to take to ensure your customer service ranks among the best.

1. Providing Discounts

If you have customers who have been doing business with your company for an extended period of time, then you need to take care of them. After all these people provide the foundation upon which your company is built. So you want to make sure that they will keep coming back. To do this, create a customer list and prioritize those who do the most business with you. Then put something together for these people, such as a discount on further purchases or a simple gift with their next purchase. Never under estimate word of mouth, when you take care of your customers they will tell others.

2. Handle complaints immediately

When it comes to customer complaints you need to deal with them immediately. As a small business you do not have to get bogged down with paperwork. Get out in front of any issue that arises. Investigate and find out what the facts are. While we all know that the customer is not always right, one thing is for sure, if the good will of the customer becomes damaged it mat affect your bottom line.

3. Be personal

Although as a small business, you can certainly do all of your work on the computer, why would you want to? Email and even chat can be very impersonal, so go for the personal touch and include an option for them to give you a call. You'll find that making contact in a way that lets them hear your voice is a great way to make sure that they remember you especially if you can make sure that their experience is a positive one.

4. Stick with your deadlines or explain why you can't!

If you cannot deliver on time then you need to explain why. Reliability is the key to your success, so always try and deliver on time. As a small business your relationship with your customers is critical, a healthy relationship means that your business will have a good reputation, one that your customers can rely on. Communicate openly and always make sure that your customers know what is going on with their orders, bottom line under promise and over deliver.

Did you know? FACT: 68% of people will quit doing business with companies that have poor customer service. Find out how to give great customer service - get effective customer service tips at http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Give-Great-Customer-Service