Shadow customer service

So much effort is being deployed on customer service design that it becomes nearly impossible for individuals to be themselves. The rule books, the scripts, the do's and don'ts mean that at best the modern customer service company executive is a shadow of himself. Unsurprisingly this plethora of procedures can often be counter-productive as clients feel that their interlocutor is not acting in a natural or genuine way.  It can also provide plenty of ammunitions for the customer service officer to be obstructive rather than helpful - "computer says no!" or "this is against our policy" become frequently used sentences. More worrisomely this often leads to poor levels of job satisfaction which rapidly result in poor customer service. So, make sure your employees do not turn into customer service shadows.

Why is customer service so important?

The importance of customer service

We were interviewed by Social Small Biz on the topic. Here is the link to the post:

http://www.socialsmallbiz.com/2010/03/22/why-is-customer-service-so-important/

A lot has already been written about customer service and I will not attempt to give you the full 50 pages answer: that can easily be found in text books. Instead I would like to focus on 3 aspects which all have critical impact on the financial health of a business.The first point is that customer service can be instrumental in managing the price sensitivity of customers. At a time when the economy is struggling and the fiscal pressure is increasing, everyone wants a good deal, but the explosion of voucher sites, discount codes and special sales is disorientating customers. They do not know when to shop, are constantly being moved around by comparator sites and

Good customer service is key to job satisfaction

Customer service job satisfaction

Whilst the focus is very often to reduce costs and offer the minimum service to customers, there is a great source of productivity which is often ignored. Employees who are given the means to offer a good service such as replacement products or ability to alter existing arrangements will not have to deal to the same extent with the wrath of customers and therefore will be much happier and much more committed to their jobs and their employers. Customer service skills and training are clearly important but the explicit policy to deliver good customer service is critical to employees job satisfaction and their attitude will make the real difference in terms of actually improving customer service.

Picture courtesy of Andy Newson with our thanks - http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=5