Objective of Customer Service
Customer service is a key component for many companies. Whether you are serving consumers or other businesses, excellent customer service will help to ensure profitability. Understanding your customers' needs, as well as their frustrations, means that customer service also provides important feedback about business processes. Great customer service requires organizational commitment.
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Definitions
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Customer service is interaction with your company's clients. Ultimately, businesses are in business to make money; profitability cannot be achieved without customers. Customer service representatives provide much of this direct interaction, although almost anyone, from any position in an organization, may be called upon to provide customer service. In the most general sense, customer service entails answering customers questions and arranging for delivery of products and services. Although customer service is often associated with for-profit businesses, many different types of organizations provide customer service.
Satisfaction
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One of the key objectives of customer service is overall satisfaction. The most commonly used example of satisfaction is the customer who gives positive feedback on her individual experience. Yet customer service has a secondary objective of organizational satisfaction. When customer service processes work well, negative customer interactions are decreased and employees are happier. This, in turn, creates a stronger and more efficient organization with less employee turnover. Satisfaction--on the part of the customer and employees--is a crucial component of any organization's customer service philosophy.
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Retention
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Another key goal of customer service is customer retention. Repeat business helps a company remain more profitable, because finding new customers is often more expensive than retaining current ones, especially due to high costs of marketing. Strong customer service tells the customer that he is valued. This message is especially important in the Internet age, when clients are constantly bombarded with advertising from other companies. Retaining customers requires customer service that is friendly and that acknowledges your customer's individual investment of time and money into your business.
Retention is an especially important goal of nonprofit organizations. For example, Kennesaw State University in Georgia outlines a customer service mission that centers on retention of students. Although profitability may not be a primary focus of nonprofits like Kennesaw, successful organizations define their customers as the reason for the organization's existence.
Expansion
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Customer service has an additional objective to expand business. Because satisfied customers often tell others about their experience, excellent customer service should attract business in the form of new clients. Here again a facet of customer service helps to reduce cost: word-of-mouth by your current customers is a cheaper (even free) manner of gaining new business when compared to marketing and advertising. Moreover, a company with a reputation for outstanding customer service will have an advantage in attracting talent as well. A larger pool of potential employees puts the organization at a competitive advantage.
Measurement
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Customer service objectives of satisfaction retention, and expansion must be measured to determine effectiveness. Organizations may do surveys or conduct studies internally to quantify customers' experiences. External measurements can also be considered. In the retail sector, some stores rely heavily upon "secret shoppers," who write customer service reports based on their visit. Organizations may employee teams of quality control experts, who specifically monitor customer service interactions. Call centers, for instance, have quality teams whose primary function is to listen to customer service calls and then provide constructive feedback.
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Comments
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I hate wen clients are treated in bad way, those potential clints are the 1 2 come 2morrow n in the future, all receptionist should respect the clients n show them love 2 motivate them 2 come 2morrrow.
