A few weeks ago, I left a voice mail for my optometrist requesting a call-back to schedule an appointment.

Last week, I left a voice mail and sent an email to an agency asking for a new business rep to give me a shout back.

And just yesterday, I sent a couple emails to lenders requesting info on refinancing my home.

In each case, I fired the pistol to start the customer service race. Who would be the first to return my call?

Sadly in each of the cases above, I’ve yet to receive a call-back. So each of those businesses lost their customer service race.

Because in the absence of a response, I’ve already moved on to other businesses. But these businesses respect my time enough to pick up the phone.

Customer service is a race; a race to be the first to provide an attentive, quality response.

Because more often than not, your leads are requesting information from other businesses too, not just you.

And those leads are going to gravitate to the business that’s top-of-mind, the business that is first to respond.

Sometimes that decision is made in a matter of minutes, sometimes hours, and sometimes it’s the business that fields customer service calls on weekends when traditional small businesses are closed (or, those strange businesses that are closed on Mondays).

Elevate your customer service to a level your customers deserve. The level you’d want to receive yourself.