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.
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[edit] 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, as 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Training & Empowerment
Training is focused on enabling personnel to deliver service in manner that is beneficial to both the organisation’s customers, and to itself.
[edit] Accountability
Whereas outstanding service organisations 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.
[edit] 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) more often 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 be at least as satisfactory 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.
[edit] 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 |
[edit] References
- Berry, Leonard L. (1999). Discovering the Soul of Service. Free Press. ISBN 0-684-84511-3.
- Berry, Leonard L. (1995). On Great Service. The Free Press. ISBN 0-02-918555-6.
- Berry, Leonard L.. "The Old Pillars of New Retailing", Harvard Business Review, 2001.
- Blanchard, Ken; Ballard, Jim; Finch, Fred (2004). Customer Mania!. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-7028-2.
- Carbone, Lewis (2004). Clued In. Financial Times Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-101550-8.
- Carlzon, Jan (1987). Moments of Truth. Ballinger Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-06-091580-3.
- Clark, Hannah. Customer Service Goes to Hell.
- Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations Emotional Competence Framework. Retrieved March 14, 2006.
- Collins, Jim; Porras, Jerry (2002). Built to Last. Harper Business Essentials. ISBN 0-06-051640-2.
- Dartnell Corporation; Dee, David (1997). Dazzle Me!. Dartnell Corp. ISBN 0-85013-274-6.
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- Fleming, John H.. "Manage Your Human Sigma", Harvard Business Review, 1 July 2005.
- Goleman, Daniel (1997). Emotional Intelligence. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-37506-7.
- Goleman, Daniel (2000). Working with Emotional Intelligence. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-37858-9.
- Harvard Business School Press (2003). Managing Change and Transition. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1-57851-874-1.
- Kamin, Maxine (2002). Customer Service Training. ASTD. ISBN 1-56286-330-4.
- Levy, Michael; Weitz, Barton (2004). Retailing Management 5e. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN 0-07-249720-3.
- Lord, Robert G; Klimoski, Richard J; Kanfer, Ruth (eds) (2002). Emotions in the Workplace. Pfeiffer. ISBN 0-7879-5736-4.
- National Performance Review (1998). World-Class Courtesy. Retrieved March 12, 2006.
- Peters, Thomas; Waterman, Robert (1982). In Search of Excellence. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-38507-7.
- Porter, Michael E. (1980). Competitive Strategy. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-6088-0.
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- Frederick F. Reichheld (2003). "The One Number You Need to Grow". Harvard Business Review December: 12.
- Reichheld, Fred (2006). Ultimate Question. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1-59139-783-9.
- Reis, Dayr; Pena, Leticia; Lopes, Paulo A. (2003). "Customer satisfaction: The historical perspective". Management Decision 41: 195-198.
- Romero, Leo (2005). Customer Service Reader. Retrieved March 12, 2006.
- Schmitt, Bernd (2003). Customer Experience Management. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-23774-4.
- Snow, Dennis; Yanovitch, Teri (2003). Unleashing Excellence. DC Press. ISBN 1-932021-06-X.
- Spector, Robert; McCarthy, Patrick D. (1996). The Nordstrom Way. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-16160-8.
- Spector, Robert; McCarthy, Patrick D. (2005). The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-70286-2.
- Welch, Jack (2005). Winning. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-075394-3.
- Zaltman, Gerald (2003). How Customers Think. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1-57851-826-1.
- Zemke, Ron; Albrecht Karl (1985). Service America. Irwin Professional. ISBN 0-87094-659-5.
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
- Customer Service Manager Forum for the discussion of customer service matters.
- Customer Service Reader Links to source material referenced in this article
- CustomersAreAlways.com Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services
- Service Untitled A blog about customer service and the customer service experience.
- Customer Service Point Resource and articles on good customer service.
- Top 5 Reasons Why "The Customer Is Always Right" Is Wrong Advice on keeping your business's priorities straight.
- Customer Service Zone Free Resource Center A repository of customer service improvement resources, includes articles, book excerpts, customer service knowledgebase, and discussion form, with a special emphasis on difficult and angry customers.
- Get a Human A customer service phone number database.de:Kundendienst
