Deal with complaints. If you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.

Answer your phone. Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business.

Train your staff (if you have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, "I don't know, but so-and-so will be back at..."

Listen to your customers. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

Be helpful - even if there's no immediate profit in it.

Lower prices are not service; they're just lower prices.

The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!