The Art of Customer Service

Many are asked to define customer service. Everyone talks about customer service, but it seems few understand the true art of it. Yes, it is an art truly practiced by few individuals and companies. Think about the last time you went to a restaurant or store and the person who served you or assisted you was exceptional. What did they do that made it so exceptional? More than likely the employee did what you expected of them and more. Basically people just want to be valued. Listening to what the customer wants or needs and providing those wants and needs is a start. When the employee or company goes beyond this, the making of legendary customer service starts.


Too many times the ability to make the customer happy is taken away from the front level employee. This means the customer will be transferred to a manager who then may have to again get approval to make a customer friendly decision from someone higher up. Businesses believe giving the front line employee the freedom to make customer friendly decisions will cost them money. It does just the opposite. By not empowering the front line employee to make good customer service decisions they disengage the customer from the person the relationship has been built with. Studies show that empowered employees are more loyal, efficient and happy. This type of employee saves the company money and decreases employee turnover. Happy employees provide the best customer service thus creating customer loyalty.



Exactly what is the cost of satisfying a customer? Does it matter? I would rather spend a little more money making a customer happy than fixing the public relations nightmare of that one customer spreading the experience not only to their closest friends and family, but to the larger audience of the Internet via Ripoff report or some other consumer complaint site.


Look at Business Weeks List of Top Customer Service Performers at http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/customer_service/ . Next time I'll explore why each obtained the rank they did.