The attitude that your employees exude towards customers can make or break your business. An employee with a chip on his/her shoulder can too easily drive customers away to a competing store or town.

So, how do you prevent this type of negative behavior from happening in your downtown store? Here are 15 tips from Barbara Wold, an international speaker, author and business strategist.

1. Keep this in mind: One percent of your customers die, but 68 percent go elsewhere because of an attitude of indifference by the owner, manager or an employee.
2. The five basic needs of customers are to feel welcome, to be understood, to be comfortable, to gain respect, and to feel important.
3. To be a customer service superstar simply requires that you maintain an eager, ready to help attitude and that you be a good listener.
4. Your basic customer service goals should include keeping your customers happy so they speak well of you and attract new customers. An equally important goal is to remember to promptly resolve complaints, realizing that a customer who voices a complaint is doing you a big favor.
5. Ninety-six percent of customers never complain and 91 percent of those who don't voice their complaints will not be back. You can retain over 90 percent of complaining customers if you act quickly to
   resolve the problem.
6. Use magic phrases such as "It's my pleasure," "Let me suggest," or "I'd be happy to."
7. Avoid killer phrases like "It's not my job," "You'll have to," and "I don't know."
8. The employee comes first. If you do not have happy employees, you simply will not have happy customers.
9. Remember that you communicate only 7 percent via the words you use, 55 percent with body language,
   and 38 percent with the tone of your voice. Do not be "nasty nice."
10. Smile when you answer the phone, it shows.
11. Answer the phone with a buffer, such as "good morning," before stating your name or company's name. The first couple of words are usually "lost." Obtain and use the customer's name as soon as possible.
12. When speaking on the phone, emphasize mouth movement for better enunciation, lower your voice, slow down, be sensitive to the volume, and stand up to talk.
13. Take clear messages. Be proactive to minimize phone tag by making an appointment for the call to be returned.
14. Remember, it is the little differences that make all the difference in the world. You can be twice as competitive by being just 5 percent friendlier than your competition.
15. Manage the "moments of truth" for a happier customer and a happier you!