Definitions

What is Customer Service?

Customer service is the way you treat the people who support your company. These can be paying customers (external customers) or staff members (internal customers). The customer’s perception of that service is what brings them back to you for repeated service. Great service is what they cite when they send referrals to you.

People who provide good customer service (regardless of the nature of their business) earn psychological benefits in addition to any rewards offered by their company. If you are unhappy in your job, take an objective look at the kind of service you are giving. In almost every case, your job satisfaction mirrors the satisfaction people feel when doing business with you. Giving poor service is a way of beating up on yourself.

The Critical Elements of Customer Service

We’re going to cover a lot of material in this course, but it is really focused on six critical elements of customer service. Each of these will be discussed through the course.

The six critical elements of customer service are:

1. A customer service focus
2. Defined within your organization
3. Given life by the members of the organization
4. Be a problem solver
5. Measure it
6. Reinforce it