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In the business world, good customer service often isn’t good enough anymore. Customers are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the merely adequate. For them, exceptional service is the rule. Anything less, and they’re happy to vote with their feet and their wallets. That makes exceptional service necessary, not just desirable. And that, in turn, mandates a strategy to help ensure that your business matches that standout service standard on a daily basis.

Here are seven ideas and tips to help your business establish and maintain an ongoing climate of service excellence.

1. Know what exceptional really means.

It’s an easy term to toss about, but knowing what exceptional service entails is essential to establishing the procedures and the mindset with which to achieve it. So, delineate what exceptional means — keeping appointments on time or making certain that telephone service reps always say “please” and “thank you”? By knowing precisely what is merely good enough — and what takes your business beyond that — you get a firm handle on what you need to do to hit that goal on a consistent basis.

2. Ask if you’re not sure.

Many companies may find it understandably difficult to genuinely pinpoint what exceptional service really entails. So, do some legwork. Conduct focus groups with customers to see what they really value. Ask your complaint department, if you have one, to identify topics that are frequent targets of dissatisfaction. Often, you may find exceptional translates to a holistic grouping of issues, not just one product or service. “Often, being extraordinary means offering someone a truly exceptional experience,” says Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of “The Power of Appreciation in Business.” “The quality of something may be good, but it’s the overall experience that will really define customer loyalty.”

3. Allow your people to be exceptional.

Saying you want exceptional service and actually carrying it out is a tough nut without the necessary authority. One of the biggest challenges of providing a consistently top-drawer performance is shifting conditions — what’s appropriate for one customer may not work with another. For instance, one customer may be so dissatisfied that a partial refund may be in order. By contrast, other customers who are a bit less peeved may be happy with a problem solved without any sort of refund. So, allow employees reasonable freedom of choice to read a situation and react accordingly.

4. Share information.

If you run a retail business, business management tools can be invaluable in tracking critical data, such as what items and services are selling particularly well. If you have that data, don’t keep it a state secret. Customer buying habits, particular needs, interests and other data can be stored in a central location and easily shared. Sharing the information with your employees lets them know what’s hitting on all cylinders. It also helps them promote these products or services to customers.  Customer buying habits, particular needs, interests and other data can be stored in a central location and easily shared.

5. Share the commitment.

Nothing can prove more destructive to a commitment to extraordinary service than management for whom the concept is little more than lip service. Walk the walk by buying into that commitment just as much as you hope your people will. Make sure you reward top performance. Invest the time and expense in any sort of training that may help employees carry out and maintain high performance standards. Don’t forget yourself and others in the front office. Make sure that training takes in everyone, not just sales, marketing and other front line employees.  Training is an important part of creating a lifelong culture for service excellence since it helps build an understanding of the concept of service. And that means a top-down commitment. Leadership should set the tone for the entire effort.

6. Don’t expect exceptional results overnight.

Another potential hurdle to exceptional service is the expectation that it’s like flicking a light switch — on it goes, and everything’s hunky dory. Truth is, exceptional service takes time to take hold in an organization, particularly one with an array of people and departments. Give it enough time. Review performance every four to six months.

7. Expect mistakes and react accordingly.

The road to top notch service is not without its bumps. Don’t pretend they’re not there. Rather, make them a part of the journey by acknowledging a slip up and, in so doing, recommitting to extraordinary performance. For example, if a customer receives the wrong item, don’t stop at making sure they get the right one. Let the customer know that you’re sorry for the mistake and build their confidence that it won’t happen again. Build customer loyalty, not just satisfaction. When you apologize for problems and really listen, you build a relationship.

“Here is a simple but powerful rule – always give people more than what they expect to get.” ~ NELSON BOSWELL