Customer Service:

A Practical Approach

Elaine K. Harris
 Chapter 2:

The Challenges of
Customer Service
  After assessing their own
strength and weakness,
 customer service providers must
begin to understand the
customers that they are serving.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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  As a customer, what do you want
from the provider?
 As the provider how do you see
your customer?

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Barriers to Excellent Customer
Service:
 Laziness
 Poor communication skills
 Poor time management
 Attitude
 Moodiness
 Lack of adequate training
 Inability to handle stress
 Insufficient authority
 Servicing customers on autopilot
 Inadequate staffing

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Power of Perceptions
 The way that we see something
based on our experience
 Everyone’s perception is at least
slightly different
 Unfortunately, perceptions are not
necessarily based on rational
ideas and may be influenced by
momentary frustation and anger
 Try to deal with your customers as
individual human beings

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Expectations:
 Our personal vision of the
result that will come from our
experience.
 Expectations may be positive or
negative

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Levels of Expectations
 Primary expectations: the
customer’s most basic requirements
of an interaction.
 Secondary expectations:
Expectations based on our previous
experiences that are enhancements
to our primary expectations.
 What is your primary & secondary
expectation when you eat at a
restaurant?

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Scope of Influence:
 Our ability to influence others based
on our perceptions or experiences.
 It costs about five times as much to
attract new customers as it costs to
keep our current customers
 Customers are more likely to share a
negative experience with their
superior
 Unfortunately, customers are likely
to share a positive experience with
the people closest to them
Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Reputation Management:
 The process of identifying how a
company is perceived and
establishing a action plan to
correct, maintain, or enhance
the company’s reputation.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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A company with a good
reputation
Is very responsive to customers


 Is a company you can trust

 Delivers on its promises to customers
 Provides excellent value to customers
 Has excellent communications
 Is ethical and honest
 Conducts business in a human/caring
way
 Has excellent top management
 Is able to adapt to changes in the
industry

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 A company with a good
reputation (continued)
 Is a good citizen
 Is a progressive company
 Is cooperative
 Has a record of strong financial
performance
 Treats employees with respect
 Is a technological leader in the industry
 Is committed to the environment
 Complies with state/federal regulations
 Is successful in diversifying operations

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Techniques for Exceeding
Customers’ Expectations

 Become familiar with your

customers.
 Ask your customers what their
expectations are.
 Tell your customers what they
can expect.
 Live up to their expectations.
 Maintain consistency.
Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Credibility:
 Made up of the combination of
our current knowledge,
reputation, and professionalism.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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Tips for cultivating
credibility
 Practice consistency
 Keep your word
 Develop your expertise
 Become a teammate with your
coworkers
 Show your dedication to customers
 Treat all of your customers and
coworkers with the same high level
of respect
 Apologize if you are wrong
 Remember that credibility is much
harder to regain than it is to keep
Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Values:
 A combination of our beliefs,
perceptions, and ideas about the
appropriate response to a
situation.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Ethics:

 A set of principles that govern

the conduct of an individual or
group.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Ethics checklist

1. Is it legal?
2. Is it fair?

3. How do I feel about it?

4. Would the court of public

opinion find my behavior

incorrect?
5. Am I fearful of what those I

trust would say about my

actions?
Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Current Issues of Customer
Service
 It is frequently difficult to measure
the financial benefits of customer
service.
 It may be challenging to convince some
financial managers of the long-term payoffs.
 Customers have high expectations of
what they hope to gain from the people
with whom they do business,
 Frequently customer service providers do not
know what those expectations are.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Current Issues of Customer
Service (Continued)
 Technology provides the opportunity for
faster responses to customer questions.
 It also creates the requirement that
customer service providers have additional
training.
 Customer service is an opportunity that
no professional can afford to ignore.
 Customer service is frequently the
distinguishing difference between two
or more companies that offer the same
product or service.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 New Trends in Customer
Service
 Accessibility for the customer
 Immediacy of response
 Feedback from customer to
customer service provider
 Outsourcing of all or part of
customer service functions

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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