Service reports are documents written by customer service representatives to track the quality of a product or service. Management uses these reports to formulate plans on how to change the product or modify service protocols for a better customer experience. This is important because such adaptations may result in better customer retention and referrals, which in turn may translate into increased revenue for the business. When you write a service report, it thus is important that you present information that is both clear and valuable to business development.

Write out the customer's name and contact information, including his email address if applicable.

Indicate the make, model number, serial number, date of purchase and time of the customer call or visit for product oriented service reports. Provide a service title and description of service instead of the make, model and serial information if the service report is dealing with service only.

Outline the problem, noting any specific customer comments about the product or service. Specify whether the problem has been reoccurring.

List the specific services or products rendered or given to remedy the customer's complaint. For example, if your business deals in computers and software, you might write "Ran disk checks to locate bad drive sectors" if the customer suspected that his hard drive was failing.

List the cause of the problem, including issues with personnel. Indicate which parts were defective, if applicable.

Write a paragraph in which you include any remarks or notes that might help with avoid or deal with similar complaints in the future. For instance, you might note that the complaint was forwarded to a specific team, what the problem seems to indicate on a larger scale for the company or that a specific tool will be necessary to fix the issue long-term.

Provide a basic rating of the customer's satisfaction using guidelines set by your company (e.g., 10 equals absolutely satisifed).

Sign and date the report.

Tip

Many websites offer templates for service reports that have sections for the information indicated here. Using such a template, or creating a template of your own, will result in more consistent data collection from multiple customer service representatives.

Keep the wording of your report as concise as possible. Avoid using "I" language altogether. Incomplete sentences in which the subject is understood and which start with verbs are acceptable (e.g., "Provided replacement for [part]"), as are bullets. Customer reports should be very quick to read and create, since a representative may have to prepare dozens in a day.

Be sure to indicate the name of the representative who handled the call or visit, even if it was you.