Overview of chapter 7
A service provider's mind works like a parachute - it works best when it is open. Train yourself to see, to pick up things that other people miss.
In the last decade many companies have recognised that they are not serving just a market - they are serving customers. Many companies know that holding onto current customers is more profitable than having to attract new ones. A new generation of service providers is emerging - one that is enthusiastic about what they can offer their customers and how to use service excellence to achieve corporate goals. They willingly expand their knowledge of the business environment, are adaptable and open to new ideas, are enlightened to the multicultural workplace and marketplace in which business is conducted and posses superior communication skills.
Customer service is an fundamental part of doing business today - whether you are an employer or an employee, in the public or private sector, dealing directly with customers or working quietly behind the scenes you have customers. Your customers pay your wages.
Customers are the keystones of any business. While many economic and managerial factors may determine the success or failure of the business without customers it is inevitably doomed. So, how do businesses attract and keep these very important people? Service providers need to prepare to interact effectively with today's customers - this preparation is a result of a commitment to understanding the customer, the service industry, of current trends and the development of skills necessary to achieve excellence.
Consider this:
Does your organisation use its approach to customer services to its competitive advantage?
Do you remember competitive advantage from Principles of Management ? We will be using the term throughout this subject. This chapter serves as a general introduction to excellent customer service and how it offers a competitive advantage to a business, as well as noting the terminology associated with customer service. We consider why exceptional service is good business. We cover the term "value" which is often used in customer service. We then discuss what a customer is and what service is. We turn our attention to the rise of the service society and why there is so much attention focused on serving the customer.
Topics
The topics to be studied in this chapter are:
- 7.1 Exceptional service = repeat business
- 7.2 Value: the fundamental equation
- 7.3 A note on terminology
- 7.4 Recognise all the players
- 7.5 Key element for success: know your customers
- 7.6 What is a service?
- 7.7 The rise of the service society
Learning outcomes
When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain why exceptional service equates to repeat business;
- explain the "cost of the lost" customers;
- define customers (identifying all the players) and the necessity to maintain positive relationships;
- define customer value and explain its importance;
- discuss the factors that have resulted in the rise of the service industry;
- recognise and apply key terminology used in customer service.
