The importance and value of cultivating and maintaining customer relationships cannot be overstated. Any business that fails to cater to their customers in ways that are business efficient as well as positively reinforcing, are doing themselves a great disservice. Businesses tend to understate the importance of customer relations management, only focusing on problem solving, rarely prevention. This is a mistake that can cost them dearly. It is rare that businesses can be effective and efficient in all areas. There are three big benefits to having a separate customer service division:

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Last year's Customer Service Hall of Fame list from 24/7 Wall St. highlights the top ten businesses with an "excellent" rating and can be found here. With the list of companies established, the question becomes what makes their customer service so great? Let's zero in on the top five: Kroger, Marriott, Apple, Chick-fil-A, and Amazon to find out.

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Sometimes life gives you lemons. It happens to you personally and it will happen with your business too. From the small issues like late delivery of a customer's order to the big ones like a product recall that threatens the bottom line, the trick to handling lemons is learning to make them into lemonade. Here are some examples of companies who turned lemons into lemonade and some tips for how to do it yourself.

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The eternal argument: should companies outsource customer service? The truth is, it depends. There are a number of factors that go into deciding whether or not to outsource your company's contact center. Let's take a look at both sides.

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Is your company's customer service department stuck in the mantra that negative feedback should be swept under the rug and kept silent? Negative customer feedback can be a death knell in today's world of intense competition, social media and instant virtual report cards, but it doesn't have to be!

In Giva's recent Customer Think article "Why Encourage Negative Feedback to Make Customers "Sticky"?' learn how to embrace negative feedback and turn your customers into a massive marketing force. This guide details how to make the best out of unfavorable responses to keep your customers coming back every time!

Service level is an important KPI in a call center. Basically, service level is defined as the percentage of calls answered within a specified number of seconds. A common example is 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds. This is sometimes considered an industry standard, but customer service is about more than just a speedy response. Let's take a look at some of the other factors involved in setting service level goals.

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If your business requires working with an eHealthRecord (EHR), consider investing in some change management software to help out your IT department. Having a change management module as part of your help desk will make it easy for employees to put in a Request for Change (RFC) for the eHealthRecord. Change management has many benefits for any IT department.

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Sometimes it is necessary to apologize. Apologies usually come after a mistake has been made. The idea of acknowledging that there is something to apologize for is off-putting to many businesses, but the fact is, mistakes sometimes happen. Whenever your company is dealing with customers who would like an issue addressed or have a complaint to make, an apology is a good place to start.

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Is it time to choose help desk software for your business? In a recent InformationAge article, Giva offers advice on selecting the right help desk software in "How to Choose the Right Help Desk Software: a Step-by-Step Guide."

Choosing the right help desk software takes a significant amount of time and thought. Figuring out what your company needs to provide customers with the best possible service should be a team effort. Giva's article helps your company choose a help desk software that will meet the needs of everyone in your business.