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What is customer service and why is it important to my business?
Home » Advertising & Marketing » Customer Service » What is customer service and why is it important to my business?Posted by Your Guide on October 13, 2005 12:05 PM
One grocery store posted the following in their store: “Rule Number One: The customer is always right. Rule Number Two: If the customer is wrong, go back to Rule Number One.” This is customer service in action. Customer service is the practice of meeting and exceeding the needs of a customer, putting the customer’s needs and wants over personal and company convenience.
Within this definition, however, there are many types of customer service. A commitment to customer service starts at the top with executives and managers who emphasize pleasing customers and model superior customer service. Many companies also include in their slogans or vision statement phrases that demonstrate this commitment to customer service. This commitment then filters down to areas such as sales, returns, technical support, and any other field in which employees will work with customers. These employees then do whatever it takes to serve the customer.
Exceptional customer service pays exceptional dividends. A 2005 study by Accenture discovered that forty-nine percent of consumers in the United States and Britain switched service providers in the last year because of poor service. Fifty-four percent of the respondents likened the typical customer service experience to stop-and-go city traffic, while only thirteen percent considered customer service a shortcut to a solution.
In other words, great customer service puts you in the top tier of companies. Bad customer service drives away customers while superior customer service produces not only repeat customers, but contagious customers. In addition, good customer service increases employee morale and improves the company’s reputation in the company. By serving customers, you serve your company’s best interests.
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