Becoming A Customer Service Star

Participants evaluate their behaviour in five critical areas

Five categories of excellent customer service have been identified based on current theories of customer service, as well as the author's personal experience in consulting with customer service personnel. These categories comprise the five points on your Customer Service Star.

1. Feel Positively Toward Customers. Good customer service begins with a positive view of customers. Individuals who enjoy dealing with customers exhibit this attitude in their customer interactions. These individuals provide contact and friendly relationships with customers.

2. Encourage Customer Feedback. In order to provide excellent service to customers, you must know what your customers need and want. Encouraging customers to provide you with both positive and negative feedback is crucial to fulfilling their needs.

3. Respond to Customer Problems. Making every effort to respond to customer's problems is an essential part of good customer service. A customer's problems can serve as an opportunity to improve overall customer service.

4. Develop Repeat Relationships. Long-term customer relationships pay the largest dividends because the value of a customer increases over time. In order to develop repeat relationships, individuals should take positive actions, such as remembering customers' names and keeping records of customers' personal needs.

5. Seek to Exceed Customer Expectations. The greatest opportunity to satisfy and retain customers is to find ways to exceed their expectations. Doing more than a customer expects makes that customer's experience a memorable one, which can spark future business.

Learning Outcomes

• Create a profile of individual customer service strengths and weaknesses
• Recognise the opportunities to improve customer service and retention
• Identify an individual action plan to enhance service in the 5 key areas.