You’d think that customer service would be the number one priority of companies right now, especially given the fact that any insult to a customer is likely to end up on the Internet one way or another. And, to be fair, many of them are probably working hard to ensure that they have a fleet of customer service representatives who are specially trained to make client experience as comfortable as possible.

But you can’t cover everything. See, sometimes it’s not just the customer service reps who interact with the customers – occasionally, it’s your other employees who come in contact with them. And if it just so happens that these employees think they don’t have customer service responsibilities because you didn’t hire them for that, then you have a problem.

So what do you do to make sure that everyone – including the non-customer service representatives – is on board with your efforts to make customers happy? Here are some things you can do:

Show that you care about your employees (so they will care about the company)

More often than not, the average worker feels that he is an inconsequential cog in the clockwork that is the company. As such, he is only compelled to do what he is tasked to do – nothing more and nothing less. This is why you can’t make some workers care one way or the other when it comes to things outside the jurisdiction of their jobs. In fact, if they are incredibly unhappy with their work, they are likely to take it out on the customers who compound the challenges that your employees have to worry about.

Showing your employees that they matter makes you the kind of company that they would want to support one hundred percent. This means they will be more than willing to do what it takes to make your business look good in the eyes of the customers – and this includes offering exceptional service and courtesy, even if they are not hired to focus on it.

Establish general guidelines then let them do things their own way

Assuming that your employees already care a great deal about your company and its reputation, the other thing you need to do is to ensure that they are handling customer interaction the way they’re supposed to. After all, there is the chance that, in their zeal to protect the good name of your organization, they end up picking fights with frustrated customers who only want their issues resolved. This is why you need to deploy guidelines that will help them understand which behaviors are appropriate in customer-related situations.

You don’t need to be terribly specific about it. Simply emphasizing the importance of courtesy, empathy, responsibility, practicality, and a positive attitude should be enough. Beyond that, it’s best to let the employees themselves figure out how they can best handle the customer’s concerns based on the strengths they bring to their jobs.