What is customer service?

Customer service is the act of taking care of the customer's needs by providing and delivering professional, helpful, high quality service before, during, and after the customer's requirements are met.

Why is customer service important?

Our organization cannot function effectively without good customer service. Customers use our products and services and their business pays our salaries. A business cannot survive without its’ customers and so we want to do our best to satisfy their needs.

How is it helpful for me as an individual?

• Job Satisfaction from doing the right thing

• Less stress and hassle especially when there are less complaints

• Improved skills from doing the right things consistently

 

What do customers want?

 

Quick service	Options	To be understood
Reliability	To feel important	Good communication
Positive surprise	Satisfaction	Consistency

Dealing with customers on the phone

• Identify the institution & yourself

• Smile

• Let them hang up first

Dealing with customers in person

First Impressions

• Appearance

• Facial expressions

• Posture

Is the Customer always right?

The customer might not be always right, because he or she can misunderstand or make mistakes. The customer should still always be respected.

Dealing with unhappy customers

Customers can be unhappy for several reasons; dissatisfaction with staff, poor service, having to wait too long, perception of rudeness, change, increased rates and often time, their unhappiness can stem from something not even related to the business. For example, they woke up in a bad mood, or their car stopped working.

The customer deserves to be treated as an important person and with consideration

The customer deserves to receive maximum effort even if he or she is being demanding or unreasonable

6 principles for dealing with unhappy customers

• They want empathy

• They want to be taken seriously

• They want respect

• They want prompt action

• They want their problem solved

• They want the assurance it won’t happen again

How can employees deliver excellent customer service?

1. Understand the value of the service they provide

2. Give consistently pleasant service (greetings, etc)

3. Help with information (Ask if they understand what was said or what is happening)

4. Be proactive (do things without being asked)

5. Be conscious of the time (Let them know there might be a wait)

6. Solid working relationships (internal customers)