This primer on customer service will leave your clients happy and your business booming.

When you're a start-up with few employees and few customers, it's easy to stay on top of what customers want and what they're getting. But as you add more customers and employees, you add links to the customer service chain. That creates the potential for growth and the potential for poor service along the way. That's why creating a customer service policy and adhering to it is so important. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your clients receive excellent service every step of the way.

Small businesses can (and should) reward customers that keep coming back.

According to a global study by American Express, in the past year, over half (55%) of consumers intended to make a purchase but decided not to because of poor customer service.

Managers need to take heed - better customer service training is needed as bored, apathetic staff members are the biggest risk to businesses today.

There are many differences between business relationships and personal ones, but there are surprisingly a lot of similarities when it comes to being successful in either. Whether you’re looking for a long term relationship with a loved one (or potential loved one), or having a successful business; being able to nurture a relationship in just the right way is key to achieving that goal. Here are 10 rock solid tips to live by if you’re looking for true love in your personal life, or building a strong business relationship with your customers.

In an age where cor­po­rate malfea­sance is increas­ingly com­mon, indeed almost "de rigueur" in the way that some cor­po­ra­tions oper­ate, it’s refresh­ing to read about com­pa­nies (par­tic­u­larly in the finan­cial sec­tor) that put their ethics and trans­parency first – even when they make costly mis­takes. In fact, it’s so heart­en­ing, that we've decided to pro­file one such com­pany and their eth­i­cal cor­po­rate prac­tices for our cus­tomer ser­vice tip of the day.

Consumer loyalty is taken for granted with some annoying customer service policies. For many companies, it seems to be a matter of seeing how many fees, how much bad service and poor communication customers will put up with before they cancel their accounts and turn to the competition.

A strong customer service policy can make a huge difference in the success of a business. By implementing and maintaining policies and procedures that encourage strong ties with clients while still protecting the interests of the company, the process of keeping customer defection to a minimum while continuing to expand the client base is simplified. While the exact nature of a customer service policy will vary from one business to another, there are a few basic factors that should be considered in any setting.

What you can do about that moment of truth, when a customer decides to stay or go.