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Putting the Customer First
Exceptional customer service is the key to both retaining customers and building a positive reputation for your business.

by Chelsea Valcourt

It doesn’t matter how extraordinary the quality of your work is: The truth of the matter is that if you don’t treat customers well, your business will not thrive. In the world of automation and busy schedules, a great deal of face-to-face interaction has been replaced and neglected, but that doesn’t mean the art of customer service has gone away. 

Responsiveness, transparency and genuine care can grow your business and guarantee repeat customers more than any other avenue. That is why it is crucial for customer service to be at the cornerstone of your business. 

South Jersey Biz spoke to Joe Penzone, founder, principal, and Broker of Record for Penzone Realty, to discuss how customer service elements can be built into the core of a company.

What element of the customer experience do you find to be the most impactful?
In today's market, communication is the most crucial part of it—the ability to listen. A lot of areas lack personal touch because so many things are automated. It’s important to prioritize real people over automation because a machine can’t replace real customer service.

How do you build an authentic culture of personalized customer service into your business?
We lead by example. We believe that within our business, our brand is a reflection of everyone's actions, so we make sure that philosophy reads through very clearly on a repetitive basis and that we regularly talk about the customer experience. For the most part, it's just learning by doing and sharing experiences openly with each other so that every time we have a good or bad experience, we can all learn from it.


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Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 14, Issue 7 (July 2024).

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