Customer service
Good customer service is vital in today's competitive business environment. Our customer service can help influence people to:
To be able to provide good customer service, we'll need to:
Who are our customers?
First we need to know who our customers are. Customers are people who need our service.
They can be: in the same organization with us or internal customers, or outside our organization or external customers.
Let's find out who Henry's customers are.
Paul: Hey, Henry. We need your help at the front desk. Jake, Peter, Michael, they're all sick. I can't believe it.
Paul, the garage owner, asks Henry for help. He is Henry's internal customer.
Sue: I'm here to have my car serviced. I booked it in a week ago.
Sue, on the other hand, is Henry's external customer.
Internal customers are as important as our external customers. We work together as a team. By helping our workmates with their jobs, it will ultimately help our external customers and our organization.
Customers' needs
Now we know who our customers are, we need to know what they want from us. Different customers have different needs. The same customer may have different needs at different times.
In most cases, we can divide our customers' needs into three categories. Some customers want to get things done. Some customers are more concerned about getting things right. And others just want to get along with people. We have to identify what our customers' needs are, so we can serve them properly.
Julie asks Jeff to help her design some company business cards. She is Jeff's internal customer. Jeff has to understand Julie's need so he can respond to her appropriately.
Customers' needs - Getting things done
Julie: Hi, Jeff. How are you going with the business cards?
Jeff: Good. I'm finalizing the artwork right now. Would you like to have a look?
Julie: Yes. Chuck just told me that he's going to a conference and he'd like his new cards by Friday.
Jeff: I'm about to finish the artwork. I'll send it to the printer this afternoon. Should only take about a day or two. I'll talk to them and make sure that the new cards will be here by Friday.
Customers' needs - Getting things right
Julie: Hi, Jeff. How are you going with the business cards?
Jeff: Good. I'm finalizing the artwork right now. Would you like to have a look?
Julie: Yes. I'd like to double-check all the spelling. Bill complained that we printed his surname wrong last time.
Jeff: Yes, I'm aware of that. I've been extra careful this time. I checked everything and even got Bill and Chuck to double-check it as well.
Customers' needs - Getting along with people
Julie: Hi, Jeff. How are you going with the business cards?
Jeff: Good. I'm finalizing the artwork right now. Would you like to have a look?
Julie: Yes. I really like the colors you've chosen here. It looks very modern.
Jeff: Thanks, Julie. I'm glad to hear you like it. By the way, would you like to see the paper it will be printed on?
As you see, Jeff responds to Julie's various needs differently.
Getting things done
When her need is to get the job done by Friday.
Julie: Yes. Chuck just told me that he's going to a conference and he'd like his new cards by Friday.
Jeff: I'm about to finish the artwork. I'll send it to the printer this afternoon. Should only take about a day or two. I'll talk to them and make sure that the new cards will be here by Friday.
Julie's main concern is: the deadline and how efficient Jeff will be to meet that deadline.
Jeff acts efficiently by informing Julie about the printing schedule and promptly assures her that the new cards will be here on time.
Getting things right
When Julie's need is to get the names spelt correctly.
Julie: I'd like to double-check all the spelling. Bill complained that we printed his surname wrong last time.
Her main concerns are the accuracy and the quality of the business cards.
Jeff: Yes, I'm aware of that. I've been extra careful this time. I checked everything and even got Bill and Chuck to double-check it as well.
Jeff addresses Julie's concerns and assures her that she can rely on him. He has checked the spelling and got both Bill and Chuck to double-check it.
Getting along with people
Julie's need here is to get along with Jeff.
Julie: I really like the colors you've chosen here. It looks very modern.
She'd like to be recognized and have a friendly chat
Jeff: Thanks, Julie. I'm glad to hear you like it. By the way, would you like to see the paper it will be printed on?
Jeff responds by being attentive to Julie. He courteously acknowledges her compliments. He continues the friendly conversation by asking if Julie would like to see the paper.
Understanding customers' needs
Let's look at Henry and Sue.
Henry: The car should be ready by noon tomorrow. We'll give you a call when it's ready.
Sue: Oh no I'm going on vacation.
Sue: I'll need the car this afternoon. Why does it take so long to do a scheduled service like this?
Henry: We're really busy here today.
Sue: But I booked it in last week.
Henry: Yes, but.
Sue: Look, Is there anything you can do? I really NEED the car back by 5 o'clock this afternoon.
Henry: OK I can't promise anything but I'll try.
Can you identify which category Sue's need is?
Sue's main concern is to get the car service done by 5 o'clock. How does Henry respond to Sue's concern about the time?
Henry: We're really busy here today.
That's hardly good enough, is it? No wonder Sue's getting angry.
When Henry realizes that Sue's need is to get things done, he should: act efficiently and assure Sue that he will do his best to meet her schedule.
Let's see them again with Henry's new customer service approach.
Sue: But I'm going on vacation. Will I get my car back this afternoon?
Henry: Don't worry. We'll take care of you today. Let's see what needs to be done. OK, We can do the 10,000 mile service and have the car ready by five this afternoon. But I can't promise we'll be able to fix the noise problem. It really depends on what it is. I'm the only technician here today.
Sue: I understand but I really need the car back this afternoon.
Henry: I'll try my best. I'll give you a call when we know what the problem is.
Sue: Thank you.
This time, Henry acts very efficiently. He informs Sue about the two things that needs to be done: the regular 10,000 mile service, the investigation of the noise problem. He then assures Sue that he will try his best to finish them by 5 o'clock and he'll give her a call so she can be informed of his progress.
In this topic, we have learned that:
Customers can be:
We can divide our customers' needs into three categories.
We have to identify what our customers' needs are, so we can serve them better.
