Web www.ewebology.net

Customer service

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Customer service is the provision of labour and other resources, for the purpose of increasing the value that buyers receive from their purchases and from the processes leading up to the purchase. With the rising dominance of the service sector in the global economy, customer service has grown in importance, as its impact on individuals, households, firms, and societies has become widespread.

History

The modern concept of customer service has its roots in the craftsman economy of the 1800s, when individuals and small groups of manufacturers competed to produce arts and crafts to meet public demand. In the 1970s, international competition increased, and producers responded by improving the quality of their products and services.

The overall quality of customer service - in society and in specific industries - will continue to be determined by the relative balance of power between suppliers and consumers; it will improve as competition becomes more intense, and decline as competition decreases.

Strategic advantage

A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve. Customer service can be such a difference. It is very difficult to control, and therefore difficult to imitate. It is difficult to control because of its variability. The level of service may vary greatly between two providers in the same organization. It may also vary from one moment to another, even as delivered by the same provider. The difficulty is compounded in multi-unit operations: in addition to variability within units, there is also variability among units.

That is both the challenge and the opportunity. The consistent delivery of superior service requires the careful design and execution of a whole system of activities that includes people, capital, technology, and processes. The few companies that can manage this system do stand out, and are sought out. This is the foundation of their sustainable competitive advantage.

Culture

For an organization’s members to deliver superior service consistently, they must be acculturated, i.e. instilled with the values, traits, patterns, and behaviors associated with a service culture. The mechanisms of this acculturation include recruitment, training, empowerment, and accountability, within the framework of an organization’s ideology of service.

Service Ideology

An organization’s ideology comprises its purpose (Why are we here?) and values (What do we stand for?). Organizations renowned for providing excellent customer service have typically defined their purpose in terms of service – to serve their customers, and to serve their members. Their values typically include integrity, trustworthiness, reliability, personal responsibility, industriousness, continuous improvement, respect, and consistency.

Training & Empowerment

Training is focused on enabling personnel to deliver service in a manner that is beneficial to both the organization’s customers, and to itself.

Technology

Technology has made available a wide range of very powerful customer service tools. They range from support websites and the ability to have live chats with technical staff to databases tracking individual customers' preferences, pattern of buying, payment methods etc., and tailoring products and service responses based on this advanced data. Specialist software that is designed for the tracking of service levels and for helping recognize areas for improvement are often integrated into other enterprise operational software tools such as ERP software.

Accountability

Whereas outstanding service organizations allow their people to make mistakes and learn from their failures, there is little or no tolerance for violations of its core service values. People who do not fit into the culture are removed.

What customers want

Category Description
Good People Friendly, helpful, courteous
Empathetic
Knowledgeable, accurate, thorough
Resourceful, empowered
Able to recommend solutions
Able to anticipate needs
Efficient
Trustworthy, authentic
Reliable
Responsible
Appropriate appearance and demeanor
Good Offering Good selection
Good quality
In stock
Available demos
Clear descriptions & pricing
Competitive prices
Financing, deferred payments
Convenience Convenient locations
Long hours
Available help, fast service
Signage that facilitates self-service
Fast checkout
Shipping/delivery
Installation
Phone/web support
On-site repair
Hassle-free returns
Quick resolution of problems
Good Environment Clean
Organized
Safe
Low-pressure
Energy level appropriate to clientele

Delivering customer service begins with understanding what customers want. And this understanding begins with the understanding that they do not always know what they want, or why they want it. Traditional market research assumes that they do. Newer methods recognize that as much as 95% of our decision making is subconscious.

Common research methods (e.g., surveys and focus groups) reveal what customers think their motivations are, rather than what their motivations truly are. When respondents do not comprehend their true motivations, they tend to state how they think they ought to be motivated. Recent progress in neuroscience and in observational technologies have yielded more reliable, less biased results. Companies have Interaction Designers that use User Centred Design methods, among others, to understand what customers need. They often use Personas to represent the research outcomes i.e., to describe the customer they are designing for.

Regardless of how they arrived at their findings, most researchers agree on the factors listed in this table to the right. Suppliers that meet these requirements are likely to give their customers a satisfactory experience.

In a competitive environment, however, satisfaction may not be enough. To stay in business, firms must provide at least as much satisfaction as their competitors. Moreover, firms that aim to gain profitable growth must increase the number of their customers while reducing the cost of customer acquisition. This is particularly true of companies that compete in mature industries. The objective then is not merely to satisfy customers, but to convert them into promoters (customers who recommend a company to others). Promoters serve to increase a firm’s clientele, without increasing its cost of acquisition – i.e. with no additional marketing or promotional expense.

But customers do not make recommendations lightly. When they make a recommendation, they put their own reputations on the line. Firms must earn that recommendation through the consistent delivery of outstanding customer service.


 

Benefits of customer service

Beneficiary Benefit
Providers Higher income (more sales, repeat business, referred business)
Recognition
Personal satisfaction & fulfillment
Less stress
Higher self-awareness and self-control
Greater authenticity
Happier life at work
Stronger social networks, family ties
Happier life outside work
Organizations Quality sales (more add-ons, more service sales)
More repeat business
More referred business
Fewer returns
Better reputation
Higher morale, happier employees
Lower employee turnover
Higher caliber of job applicants
Fewer complaints
Higher productivity
Better work environment
Higher inventory turnover
Higher profits
 
Society Higher income from individuals and firms
Higher productivity
Stronger families and social networks
Greater civility

 

Take Care of Yourself Before You Take Care of Your Customer


One of the most important questions people ask when they are focused on improving their quantity and quality of business is: ?What is my competitive advantage? What makes me unique, memorable, special? what truly sets me apart from the rest?"

You Bever Know Who Youre Serving


You Never Know Who You?re Serving when customers turn irate.

Clients... and 38 ways to communicate with them


As Alan Weiss (guru to the savvy consultant) says:

Customer Service - A Lost Art?


Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that question, take a moment and think about the last few times you have gone shopping or out to dinner. Okay, now that you have really thought about it, is your answer any different? Why is it that when we actually DO receive excellent customer service that it makes such an impression on us that we usually choose to go back? Why - because the occurrences are so few and far between!!!

Is your Online Business Customer-Friendly?


Customer service is increasingly seen as one of the most valuable uses for a commercial World Wide Web site. Your Web site is available on a 24 hour, seven days a week basis. So it is well worth exploring ways in which your customers can virtually ?serve themselves," without the need for overtime staff, or lengthy voice mail procedures.

Customer Service A Chickens Way


Anyone who knows me knows my favorite fast food restaurant is Chick-fil-A. Aside from the fact their chicken is especially good and I can always get sweet tea, I have a valuable business reason for eating there ? they serve up amazing customer service. And these lessons aren?t just served in my nearest location. But in any city, any town, any time I have been to a Chick-fil-A, I have left feeling like the most valuable Customer.

Make An Action Plan To Improve Customer Service


Customer Service is a critical factor for keeping your clients coming back and ensuring they?ll refer you to others. Growing your business will be a difficult task at best if you don?t perform, meet and exceed your client?s expectations, and provide service that creates customers for life.

Losing Angry Customers


This article offers five ways to help you deal with angry customers. While the goal of all businesses is to have only happy customers, we also have to be realistic and realize sometimes we are going to anger a customer. Isn?t it best to know in advance how to deal with an angry one, of course it is. Read on?..

Create Win-Win Deals With Your Competitors


In the competitive world of the 20th century, we generally viewed competitors as the enemy. And a competitor was anyone who sold to the same target audience as us - even if they sold a different item. After all, since there was a finite group of customers and a limited amount of money, if they spent it with your competitor, there was less for you.

Making The Most Of Newsletters


Newsletters can be wonderful tools for communicating with your customers or prospects. Because of their format, they?re often infused with more credibility than traditional brochures. If your newsletter is little more than blatant self-promotion, however, it?s likely to hit the wastebasket before it hits your target?s desk.

Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses


But I'm sorry to disagree with you. As small, honest and legitimate businesses - we have a tendency to place our product quality above money. While this is the "right" way of building a strong, solid business; there are customers that will try to take advantage of you. You have to learn how to notice this possibility coming and "bow out gracefully" without losing the customer. Remember that most newcomers to the world of mail order think that they are ordering from BIG companies just because we have a company name! They cannot conceive how poor and struggling a lot of us really are. They think we can absorb costs and because they are poor themselves, will often try and take advantage of people like us. (If they only knew the many times I have personally had to hold an order up for mailing because I couldn't afford to pay for the postage to mail it back, or the guy who bounced a $2 check and caused a close friend of mine to go "in the hole" $15 in bad check charges.)

Becoming A Solution To Your Customers Problems


Those of us in home based and small businesses are in effect selling our product. So becoming an effective salesperson is very important. Remember, however, that selling is not the only thing you do. Don?t forget to use your time wisely.

Cultivating the Trust Factor


In today?s highly competitive economy, it is difficult to maintain a significant market advantage based on your professional skills alone. Developing a trusting relationship with your clients is key to your success. No matter what business you are in, the most powerful value-added you can contribute in any business relationship is the trust factor.

The 7 Principles of Business Integrity


If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don?t have integrity, nothing else matters. -- Alan K. Simpson

Breaking the Ice and Winning Over the Client!


Wherever you turn these days you?ll find articles covering every business strategy and tactic available to man, from how to make a great presentation to strategies for success all the way to negotiations and prospecting and getting a client to commit. But hardly anyone touches on the subject of breaking the ice with a new client and winning them over.

More Articles from Customer Service Information:
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20




Customer Service / Copy Operator
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 6 hours ago
A growing and prominent printing & copy company is looking for an outgoing and technically savvy Customer Service / Copy Operator to join its Everett ...


Siliconrepublic.com

Enterprise Applications Salesforce.com Buys InStranet Customer ...
eWeek,  NY - 23 hours ago
By John Pallatto Salesforce.com paid $31.5 million to buy out InStranet, which markets a knowledge base used by customer service call centers and customer ...
Salesforce.com Acquires InStranet, Bringing Industry-Leading ... MarketWatch
Salesforce.com Buys More InternetNews.com
Salesforce.com To Acquire InStranet For $31.5 Million InformationWeek
TMC Net - Siliconrepublic.com
all 79 news articles


What SaaS can teach us about customer service
ZDNet - 15 hours ago
In addition, SaaS can also result in another key benefit not often recognized or leveraged: better customer service. Think about it. ...


Customer Service Events Assistant
Seattle Times, United States - 8 hours ago
Professionalism, strong customer service skills, and friendliness is a MUST! Candidate MUST be fluent in Japanese (conversational and business)and English. ...


Customer Service Representative
Seattle Times, United States - 6 hours ago
European Soaps, LLC is a distributor of luxurious bath and body products from around the globe, an expansive collection of premium products for gifts, ...


Apple: World’s best customer service or most dangerous products?
Reuters UK, UK - Aug 19, 2008
... feeling that buying an Apple product could set your house on fire but at least the company will answer the customer service phone on the first ring. ...


From the coalface: Boosting customer service without extra staff ...
BusinessZone.co.uk, UK - 11 hours ago
How do we improve customer service without recruiting more staff or buying technology? This is one of the questions we get asked most. ...


Customer Service Training Continues with Ports Authority and ...
Platinum News Online, British Virgin Islands - 10 hours ago
Employees from the Ports Authority and Immigration Department participated in a Customer Service workshop which focused on providing a positive experience ...


MyCustomer.com

Opinion: 10 tips to win loyalty from customer service
MyCustomer.com, UK - 10 hours ago
Here are 10 ways to win customer loyalty through customer service: Don’t discontinue an existing customer initiative in an uncertain economy — if necessary, ...


Sage Telecom Earns ‘Best Customer Service Center’ Honor
openPR (press release), Germany - 18 hours ago
(openPR) - Sage Telecom, Inc. has been recognized for quality customer service by HyperQuality, Inc., the premier contact center quality assurance firm. ...

Customer-Service - Google News




home | site map
Copyright © 2005 www.eWebology.net