What is customer service

Customer Service Customer Service comes from two words : \

Customer meaning one who buys something ; especially one who deals regularly at given establishment .

Service - the occupation or function of serving or the work performed by one that serves .

The simplest definition is being treated or its when you’re made to feel at home . Customer service is very subjective and exist only in the eyes of the beholder . What Ever It is , most people will say they know it when they see it or experience

Customer and Service . When the words come together there are two possible outcomes.

. They can form a collision what will leave the customer frustrated and angry.

. It can be a comfortable joining together of two friends that leave the customer satisfied and pleased

Standard of Service Customer focus. Customer friendly. Customer Service .

What ever you call it , It means one thing . Your company has made promises to its customer in the form of advertising and slogans . Now all you have to do is keep those promises or to put it another way to do what you say you will do

After you marketing department brings out these slogan it is operation that must make customer service happen . When it doesn’t happen ,people won’t blame the slogan ,they will blame the customer contact person and from there the company

Marketing and Management must be equal and share the same vision , mission and philosophy. When marketing has done its job and the customer uses your product the baton is passed. The Customer has the expectation built from marketing and has a level of expectation that must be satisfied or the experience will be negative one

You do this by establishing standard for your service personnel .Standard make for consistency for customers . That makes customers comfortable with your operations and that paves the ground for repeat business. Standard have to be measurable focused on the customer and ingrained into the employee’s job description.

Mixed Messages

What kinds of messages are you sending to your staff when you close the door as a matter of course ? It send out several messages . All bad . When the door closes ,it sends out the clear messages that the boss is either paranoid , insecure or just plain diculous - all negative

The door should be closed only when there are necessity . True privacy is necessary when it concern personnel matters or business discussions that are indeed private . How often is privacy truly required ? Not very often . Certainly not each time more than one person goes into the boss office or when the boss goes into Any office

The Influence of culture is very important. A closed door has a negative effect on the morale of the office. When the morale declines , productivity declines equally . When you are irritated with your boss you do not work as hard .The negative culture breeds defensive working . The costs of a defensive work style are employees aggression and to make the inevitable mistakes . The bottom Line is that the office climate is important veness and their willingness to take chances.

Going Beyond Customer Satisfaction.

Customer Loyalty is also very important, more so than customer satisfaction. The result of having loyal customers are worth any extra effort required that will raise your customer service levels.

Loyalty develops when customers get involved with the company above the normal transaction. This often takes the form of a problem that is solved in a extraordinary way and forces the customers to recognize the individual care. Others occur when employees form a relationship with the customer by providing individuals service that elevates the transaction from impersonal to personal.

Satisfied Customers:

Will continue doing business until something better comes along, whether location, better price or better variety

No relationship formed No personal interaction Sees business as impersonal only

doing business with a company, not with a person

Loyal Customers:

Forgives and Understands minor problems.

Not Price Sensitive. Will help sell the business with word of-

mouth advertising Will not jump at the next' pretty Face

The Toughest Customer Service

Employees of the service industry the servers , grocery clerk, taxi drivers, concierge, hair stylists, front desk clerks, waiters and waitresses, secretaries , receptionist-whose who earn their living by giving customer service, one customer at a time . In the world of the service industry each and every customer has a face and a personality . Each transaction is personal . Each shift exposes the service person’s attitudes and training.

When training has taken place, it is immediately obvious because service appears seamless, comfortable and without effort . When no customer service training has occurred it is also immediately evident by the transactions being awkward and stained resulting in the smallest flaws magnified and a chore to get accomplished.

The most difficult part of training customer service in the service industry is to get attention of the management that customer service is the most cost effective way to build customer loyalty.

The Customer is Always Right

Everyone in the service industry have seen customers who have been wrong, sometimes blatantly wrong. But is really isn’t whether the customer is right or wrong that is important. It is attitudes and Trust towards the customers that is important. One of the worst problems of the service industry is a cynicism that can seep into the attitudes of even the most dedicated people

Why Customer Service Is Important

Because customer service does more than simply provide a means to drives

sales. When companies have a commitment to customer service it raises the bar of competition. The only way companies can effectively accomplish this is through their employees . As the competitive bar goes up , the quality of employees must go up equally