Customer Service: A Practical Approach

What is customer service?

Anything we do for the customer that enhances the customer experience.

Customer satisfaction:

The customer’s overall feeling of contentment with customer interaction.

Customer expectations:

Our vision of the result will come from our experience.

Customer perception:

The way we see something is based on our experience.

Examples of customer service

• Receipt lookup or “return by” date on store receipts
• Calling the customer by name 
• Easy return policy
• Updated map of the area or GPS in rental cars
• A doctor calling you back to see how you are feeling after a professional visit
• On-time delivery
• Easy to use and functional website
• Owner’s manuals and frequently asked questions online
• Showing the customer that you care and illustrating courtesy and enthusiasm
• Excellent follow-up
• Empathy in handling customer complaints and questions
• Well-explained instructions
• Illustrations of encouragement
• Suggesting a less expensive option
• Accessibility when and where the customer wants it

Why is excellent customer service so rare?

Customer service is rare because it requires two things that the average person and organization are unwilling to commit to:

• Spending money
• Taking action

The five needs of every customer

1. Service
2. Price
3. Quality
4. Action
5. Appreciation

External customers:

We do business with customers outside our organization.

Internal customers:

The people we work with throughout our organization.

Customer Attributes:

Characteristics that allow customers to be categorized according to demographic, psychographic, or firmographic information.

Demographic information:

• Characteristics such as-

• age
• income
• marital status
• education
• stage in the family life cycle
• home ownership
• sex
• ZIP code
• occupation
• household size
• mobility patterns
• ethnic background
• religion

Psychographic information:

• lifestyle
• modes of living
• needs
• motives
• attitudes
• reference groups
• culture
• social class
• family influences
• hobbies
• political affiliation

Firmographic information:

• Characteristics of a company include:

• Number of employees
• the kind of business
• retail, wholesale, or a service provider
• hours of operation

Cost of Losing a Customer

We lost the current dollars that our business relationship had created.

We lose the jobs that our clients provide.

We may suffer from a loss of reputation.

We may lose the intangible variable of future business.