Your customers are more than just an account number. Want to stand out from the crowd? Here are 4 simple tips to create a great customer service experience for your clients.

1. Leave your office and visit customers in person

Nothing can compare to face2face meetings. It may be unrealistic for some of you to get out and meet all of your customers, but the ones that you do see, learn from them, listen to them and value them. This is not about sales but about building strong customer relationships.

2. Don’t leave it all to your sales representatives

Schedule regular on-site customer visits by you and members of your executive team. Customer attitude starts at the top. Customer visits are a “lead by example” symbol internally to employees. They also result in better decisions – with so many demands on your attention, you can get out of touch in a changing marketplace without even realizing it.

3. Small gestures talk big

It doesn’t have to be a gift, or a special ‘deal’. Help your fellow small business owners who are your customers, and they will help you. If you use and enjoy their products and services, be sure to let other people know. A recommendation can be as simple as a tweet with a hashtag such as #fastdelivery for your shipping company or a #FF (Follow Friday) tweet. Retweet your customers on Twitter; share and Like their content on Facebook. Show that you appreciate them.

4. Customers actually love to talk to you!

Fear sometimes keeps business owners from reaching out to customers. So many of us only hear from our customers when they have complaints, issues or want a refund that we are reluctant to reach out. (Will we get a cool reception? Are they full of complaints? Did we screw up and not fix it right?) Initiate a conversation – you may be pleasantly surprised – and learn a lot.

Get out and meet those people behind the company name! They would love to see you!

Now Go Get Connected!