Put simply, giving a customer goods and services when they want them, at a fair price, and making them feel that a business values their custom is what will bring them back again and again.

Firms spend a lot of time, effort and money trying to get this right, from the number of rings a call must be answered in, to certain words you never use when speaking to customers, such as ‘no’.

All businesses have these sorts of policies as well as various strategies and contingencies, but it is the ones where the personal touch shines through that really stand out.

And this is what businesses need to shout about. There is usually very little to choose between most sales and offers on similar products. What makes a difference to the customer is who they can trust to deliver what they promise, and how they will deal with it if anything goes wrong.

Every company can go out of its way to help a customer as a one-off or launch an offer that is too good to miss. But that doesn’t happen every day. What customers do want every day is good quality, friendly service and a good price.

Customer service is a bit like insurance . . . you don’t know how good it is – or isn’t – until you need it. You may have got a good deal, but will it deliver when the chips are down?

Things can go wrong for a business for a variety of reasons, many of which may be beyond its control, such as being let down by suppliers or couriers. But it is how it deals with those issues and make it up to the customer that really matters.

I recently ordered a chair online and it arrived the following day – three days earlier than expected. Fantastic.

When I put the legs on, one was considerably shorter than the others. Not so fantastic. 

After briefly toying with the idea of fixing it myself, I contacted the firm to ask for a replacement or a refund. Either way, I didn’t want a faulty chair. After a brief discussion, a new chair arrived the following day and we could keep the original to do with as we pleased. So, with a bit of DIY, we now have two matching chairs for the price of one – and the second arrived two days before the first was due to be delivered!

When I bought the chair, I went for price and convenience. When it arrived faulty, I was expecting to have it in my living room for weeks until a solution could be found.

Now, I’ve got my chairs, the supplier hasn’t had the hassle of reclaiming and sorting out the faulty one and I’ve left a very positive five-star review.

I wouldn’t have planned it like this, but because of its fantastic customer service, it is one business I definitely would recommend.