The importance of

Customer Service
 In today’s competitive business world, it is
sometimes all too easy for companies to get
caught up in endless examinations of ways to
increase productivity, boost sales, and
streamline for maximum efficiency.
…Sometimes this direction takes away from
attention on good customer service, and good
customer service will always be the center of
any business that works with people—which
means ALL businesses!
 “… the ability of an organization to constantly
andconsistently
exceed the customer's expectations.”

If we are going to consistently

exceed customers’ expectations,
we have to recognize that every
aspect of business has an impact on
customer service.
Where is Customer Service
delivered?
 On the phone
 Face-to-face interaction
 Taking orders
 Social Media
 Providing information
 Email
 Selling or providing products and/or services
 Scheduling appointments
 Delivering or installing products
 Repairing and troubleshooting
 The list goes on and on!
 How is excellent Customer Service
delivered?
 Appearance
 Attitude
 Positivity is a learned behavior
 Use empathy
 Put yourself in the customer’s
shoes
 Friendliness
 Response-ability
 Take action to solve the
problem
 Go the extra mile
Essential components of
customer service

Commitment

 A pledge to service and teamwork

 Keeping your promises
Essential components of
customer service

Communication

 Active listening
 Positive responses
 Empathy
 Thinking as a team
 Essential components of
customer service

Communication

 Get to the bottom of what the customer is

looking for
 Really make them feel heard and
understood
Essential components of
customer service

Service
 A personal commitment to make a
difference
 Know your stuff—you should be a
expert
Good Customer Service:
 Smile and be friendly
 Use a customer’s name if you know it
 Introduce yourself
 Listen.
 Pay attention on the customer and
value them
“Treat every customer as if they sign your
paycheck…because they do.”
Danger Phrases
1. “I don’t know.”
2. “We can’t do that.”
3. “You’ll have to…”
4. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”
5. “No” at the beginning of any sentence.

1. “That’s a good question, let me find out.”

Better Phrasing
2. “Let’s see what we can do.”
3. “The next time that happens, here’s
what we can do…”
4. “It may take me a few minutes to find
out. Are you able to wait while Icheck?”
5. “While we may not be able to do that,
here’s what we can do…”
 Four common traits of great Customer Service providers:

Empathy
Customers need Responsiveness
someone who can relate Customers don’t want
to their problems and to be treated like an
show real interest in interruption. They
helping them. want attention, action,
and to feel important,
no matter how much
Motivation they spend.
You need a strong
desire to succeed. This
gives you a better Assurance
chance at employment Customers want to feel
and promotion. that their needs will be
met and promises will
be kept.
 Handling an angry customer
1. Keep calm
2. Listen carefully to the complaint
3. Repeat the complaint back to make sure you
understand the problem
4. Apologize that it happened
5. Acknowledge the customer’s feelings
6. Explain what action you will take to correct
the problem
7. Thank the customer for bringing the problem
to your attention

If the customer is still unhappy, get help from

your supervisor.
 Why is customer service so
important?
 Competition and repeat business
 External customers
 Effects of Poor Customer
Service:
 Loss of the company’s business
 Dissatisfied customers will tell others not
to shop at that business
 Those people will tell others

All this can happen because ONE

employee made ONE customerunhappy.
 Keeping customers is
important!
 Depending on the industry, the cost of poor customer
service can be three to ten times as much as good
customer service
 Market research shows it costs about five times as
much to attract a new customer through promotions
and advertising
 “If you make customers unhappy in the physical
world, they might tell their friends.
 If you make customers unhappy on the Internet,
they can each tell thousands of friends.” -JeffBezos
No company can
survive without
repeat business!
 Returning customers account
for about 85% of total sales
 In other words: for every
$100 in sales, $85 was spent
by a repeat customer
“Good customer service is all
about bringing customers back
and about sending them away
happy.”
When there’s a
problem…
Correct it !!…
“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect.
They do expect you to correct things when
they go wrong.”
When There Is a Problem
 Acknowledge that a problem exists
 Do not view the problem as a personal attack
 Ask questions to understand the problem
 Listen to the answers without interruption and
show interest and concern
 Clarify and verify by repeating the situation
 Simplify the problem by focusing on facts and
documenting a relevant chain of events
 Find the root cause of the problem
 Offer solution options to the customer
 Agree on a solution
 Follow up with the customer
Excellence from the
inside out!
 Internal Customers: people who work
within your organization
 All the customer service principles you
use for external customers should also
be used for internal customers
 Treat everyone with respect
 Be professional and show pride in your
organization
Customer Service

is not a department…

…it’s an
Attitude!