Arellano University

K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum

Senior High School – Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Specialized Subject
PRINCIPLES OF MARKRTING
DLP no. 6

I. TOPIC: CUSTOMER SERVICE

II. OBJECTIVES: The learners shall be able to understand the following:

1. Resolving support issues quickly and effectively.
2. Collaborating with relevant teams to voice customer pain points.
3. Improving brand reputation.
4. Driving customer satisfaction.
5. Increasing customer loyalty.
6. Building more authentic customer relationships.

III. CONCEPT NOTES

The definition of customer service

Customer service (cus·tom·er serv·ice, noun) is "the assistance and advice provided by a company to
those people who buy or use its products or services," according to Lexico. It's also the processes that support
the teams making good customer service happen.
Most people think about customer service as something that happens when people reach out to a
business with a problem. That’s really only half the story, though.
Customer service isn’t just what happens when a customer calls or emails you. For example, it also happens
when:
 People are shopping for a solution and they find your business. Customer service is happening,
even though that person isn’t even a customer yet.
 People are on your knowledge base, answering their own questions. That’s customer service, too.

What is good customer service?

Ultimately, the human elements of customer service are what really defines good customer service.
Customers expect fast replies, on the channels of their choice—but that's table stakes.
Winning customer experiences are about how a customer feels they are being treated. For example, if a
customer has to repeat themselves while being bounced between different departments or waiting on hold, they
aren't going to feel heard or that their time was respected.
Excellent customer service is when a company exceeds a customer's expectations. This might include
delivering proactive support and anticipating customers' needs or getting ahead of a problem before it happens.
It can also mean going the extra mile to build deep customer connections.

What are the 4 principles of good customer service?

We surveyed 3,000 customers across the world and looked at our data index of 45,000 companies using
Zendesk to find this answer.
 We learned that the top 4 principles of customer service are:
 Fast resolutions—whether that's through an agent, self-service, or a chatbot
 Having the ability to find answers as soon as questions come up—24/7 and in real-time Interacting with
a friendly, understanding agent
  Being able to contact support via the most convenient channel

The difference between customer service and customer support

There is a difference between customer support and customer service. It helps to think of customer
support as the how, such as the nuts and bolts of troubleshooting an issue, and customer service as the why—
why it’s recommended to set up your cloud account in a certain way or why today’s issue could balloon into a
bigger issue in time if certain steps aren’t taken.
A customer support team can fix a technical issue in the short term, but providing good customer service
helps build relationships and establish a true partnership in the long term. Adding the “why” into the support
process improves the experience for customers, and it helps agents grow.

The 2 types of customer service you should know about

Each channel could be considered a different type of customer service, but in reality, there are only
two types of customer service your business can offer: proactive and reactive.

Proactive vs. reactive support

Reactive support used to be the standard: you wait for a customer to contact your business with an inquiry or
issue. Proactive service, however, is now a crucial type of customer service—it means anticipating your
customers’ issues and addressing them before your customers do. This might include:
 An e-commerce company getting ahead of abandoned shopping carts by deploying a chatbot on its
checkout page to answer frequently asked customer questions.
 An internet provider sending customers a text about upcoming service disruptions.

The most important customer service skills

Customer service skills or characteristics represent the qualities and abilities a customer service
representative needs to deliver good customer service. Customer service managers tend to hire for technical
skill sets. Technical skills are important, but soft skills matter, too.

Here are the top customer service skills your customer service representatives need:
1. Ability to mirror a customer's language and tone
Mirroring another person’s language and tone can help you connect with them.
Now, if a customer is angry on a call, you don’t want to copy their frustration. Instead, remember that
“calm is contagious.” Be firm and work to bring the intensity down a notch. Customers respond well to getting
help from someone who's clearly level-headed.
Learn more tips for dealing with customers that are angry in this Forbes article.
On live chat, responses are often short, quick, and incomplete. This makes it harder for you and the customer to
understand each other’s tone. Choose your words carefully and err on the side of caution and clarity. Try to
avoid puns or regional turns of phrase.
Instead, use a gentle, informative tone. Patience is your best friend when helping a frustrated customer.
2. Active listening
When customers complain and are frustrated, they might not be able to take in what you say. So
scrambling to a solution isn’t always the best approach.
The ability to display empathy first is crucial. Remember, both you and the customer want to reach a
resolution, not just a solution.
Customers who are stressed need to feel heard. Explain that you understand the reason for their call.
This little bit of empathy will go a long way toward improving a difficult customer experience.
3. Clear communication
Nobody likes to wait on hold, especially if they don’t know how long it’ll be until they can talk to
someone.
When customers call or start a live chat, set their expectations about hold times. This can help them
feel like their issues matter to you.
 4. Interpersonal skills
The best customer service templates do more than give agents pre-written text to copy and paste.
They’re the starting point for high-quality, personalized answers so agents can build real, human
connections with customers.
Start with a template, then adjust it before replying to customers. This makes your answers feel more
personal to customers.
It’s OK to use your own voice and approach—just make sure you reflect the company’s brand and
philosophy. For example, maybe you can make your own email signature unique.
5. Comfort multitasking
Live chat agents are expected to handle more than one chat at a time. This is a skill in itself. Great
multitaskers don’t lose sight of the bigger picture as they're bombarded by questions.
Be careful not to handle too many chats, or else your customers will be waiting too long between
responses. You can always put a chat on a brief hold if you need more time to find an answer. But just like
with phone support, set expectations first. For example, ask if you may put them on a brief hold to conduct
more research.
6. Attention to detail
Sometimes it’s harder for customers to express themselves in writing. Don’t read too quickly and
jump to conclusions. It takes a lot of training and practice to understand how different customers
communicate. But it's key to success in customer service.
For example, someone who works in sales might come off as assertive or aggressive. Or, an engineer might
want more technical details about how their problem was solved.
Being able to read cues like this can give a customer care representative a better idea of how to tailor their
customer service approach.
7. Attentiveness
Always respond to a customer’s social post when they need help. You may not be able to answer
right away. But it’s still important to make quick initial contact with that customer and let them know when
you’ll respond. Providing speedy responses means being adept in addressing a customer's problem with a
precise and polite tone.
The exception to “always respond” is when agents are confronted with an obvious attempt to pick a
fight on public channels. These comments are often directed at the company itself. It can be tempting to
engage with the person if you feel strongly about the issue at hand. But a company can’t afford to have an
agent, or any employee, make mistakes on social media. So, always proceed with caution when responding
publicly.
8. Collaboration skills
Answering a customer's question often involves working with other teams or departments. Is
answering a social media post a job for customer support, or for marketing? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
If your marketing team manages your social media, make sure they connect with the customer
service team for help with any incoming support requests. Remember, everyone is responsible for good
customer service so agents will need to have strong collaboration skills.

IV. ACTIVITY
ESSAY:
1. What is the impact of having a good customer service of a company to customer?
2. Tell your personal story about having a good customer service experience and how it influences you
to comeback or repeat purchase.
3. What do you think will happen if a company or a business doesn’t have a good customer service?