Customer Service:

A Practical Approach, 5th ed.

By
Elaine K. Harris

Chapter 1:
What is Customer Service?
 What is customer service?

 Anything we do for the customer

that enhances the customer
experience.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Customer satisfaction:

 The customer’s overall feeling

of contentment with a customer
interaction.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Customer expectations:

 Our personal vision of the

result that will come from our
experience.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
4
 Customer perceptions:

 The way we see something based

on our experience.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Examples of customer service
 Free car wash with
fill-up
 Calling the customer by
name
 Easy return policy
 Updated map of the area
or GPS in rental cars
 A doctor calling you
back to see how you are
feeling after a
professional visit
 On-time delivery
 Courtesy
 Enthusiasm
Customer Service: A Practical
Approach, 5e
6
 Showing the customer
that you care
 Excellent follow-up
 Empathy in handling
customer complaints and
questions
 Well-explained
instructions
 Illustrations of
encouragement
 Suggesting a less
expensive option
 Package carry out
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
 Why is excellent customer
service so rare?
 Customer service is rare because
it requires two things that the
average person and organization
are unwilling to commit to:
 Spending money
 Taking action

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 The five needs of every customer

1. Service
2. Price
3. Quality
4. Action
5. Appreciation

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 External customers:

 Customers we do business with

outside our organization.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Internal customers:

 The people we work with

throughout our organization.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Customer Attributes:

 Characteristics that allow

customers to be categorized
according to demographic,
psychographic, or firmographic
information.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Demographic information:

 Characteristics such as:

 age  sex
 income  ZIP code
 marital status  occupation
 education  household size
 stage in the family  mobility patterns
life cycle  ethnic background
 home ownership  religion

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Psychographic information:

 lifestyles  culture
 modes of living  social class
 needs  family
 motives influences
 attitudes  hobbies
 reference groups  political
affiliation
 etc.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Firmographic information:

 Characteristics about a company

such as:
 how many employees they have
 the kind of business they are in
 whether they are retail,
wholesale, or a service provider
 their hours of operation

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Cost of Losing a Customer

 We lose the current dollars that

our business relationship
created.
 We lose the jobs that our
clients provide.
 We may suffer from a loss of
reputation.
 We may lose the intangible
variable of future business.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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