At first glance, customer service seems pretty disconnected from writing unless you’re talking about writing as a way of enhancing customer service. There are, however, some principles of good customer service that can be applied to writing. Your customers are your readers. Rather than their money, you’re asking for their time.
To start with, good customer service requires clear communication. You need to let people know what to expect, which is a good thing to do when you’re writing. You can do this with the headline, the first sentence and/or a nutgraph. This is a short paragraph that summarizes the who, what, where, when, why and how of your story.
Good customer service requires that you care about the people you are serving and that you try to build a relationship with them, even if it’s brief. This works in writing too. If you care about your reader and how they perceive what you are trying to say, it will come through. This doesn’t mean that you should avoid controversy or not write about things that your reader might not like to hear. This isn’t about what you are saying, rather it’s about how you say it. Do you use clear sentences? Have you explained yourself well? Have you made the subject, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, interesting?
Just as a good store owners needs to engage shoppers, you need to engage your readers. You do this by making sure that every sentence leads into the next one so that the reader doesn’t get a chance to walk out the door.