Customer service became a topic of conversation at work recently, after I saw a great article on it in the most recent issue of American Window Cleaner magazine. Customer service is an important aspect for us here at Detroit Sponge, especially being a smaller company. We take every interaction with our customers very seriously, because each customer is one small, interlocking part of the foundation of our business. Customer satisfaction also leads to referrals and affects a big part of our growth.

I became inspired by the article to make our goals more prominent. So I created a printout to post over each phone, to look at while we’re talking with customers. We call them our customer service mantras.

Be your customer’s best interaction today!


A negative interaction can affect the direction of your day’s mood and all that day’s future interactions. So can a positive one. If I can affect one person positively, maybe that will change the course of their day. We all try to keep that in mind with every phone call.

Put the customer first in everything you do!


No matter how much we want to be our customer’s best interaction, we all occasionally need reminding that the customers are the lifeblood of any company. They are the reason we go to work everyday. Their loyalty is vital, because they need our help to accomplish their goals and they trust us with that. This is that reminder.

Solve the customer’s problem!


Often, customers ask me how to handle certain situations that arise while they clean windows. Now I’m very familiar with our products, but I’m no window cleaner. However, if I don’t know the answer to a question, I usually know how to find it. So I don’t mind taking a few extra minutes to try and answer a question. Sometimes I learn something too, and then I have more information to help future customers.

Say “Yes!” instead of “No!”


This goes along with the previous statement. Rather than say “No” or “I don’t know” I push myself to go the extra mile and find the answer, even if I have to point a customer in a direction other than our company.

Can you think of any more customer service mantras to keep you motivated?

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