Customer Service:

A Practical Approach, 5th ed.

By
Elaine K. Harris

Chapter 5:
Empowerment
 Empowerment:

 To enable or permit customer

service providers to make a
range of decisions to assist
their customers.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Importance of a mission and
purpose statement
 All businesses that deal with
customers should have an
official mission and purpose
statement.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

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

 The reasons for the

organization's existence.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

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

 The means by which the

organization will fulfill its
purpose.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

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

 Empowerment is a true
opportunity.
 Empowerment frees the time of
supervisors who may otherwise be
less productive because they
have to deal with issues that
could be handled more quickly by
the customer service providers.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Steps to Empowering Customer
Service Providers
1. Paint a picture of what you
hope to accomplish.
2. Allow workers to own their
empowerment choices.
3. Reward and recognize positive
examples and results of
empowerment.
4. Commit for the long haul.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

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

 When customers participate in

providing at least a part of
their own customer service.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Examples of Coproduction
 Salad bars
 Free beverage refills that you get yourself
 Self-service copy shops
 Completion of medical and insurance
information while waiting for the doctor
 Requests that deposit slips be completed
before going through the bank line and
providing a place for customers to fill them
out
 Telephone customer assistance lines
 Payment at the pump for gasoline
 Self-checkout
 Online bill payments

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

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

 Coproduction works because when

customers participate in the
process they have some degree of
ownership of the situation.
 Customers are contributing to
its success.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Techniques to help customers
be better coproducers

 Ask telephone callers to be

prepared
 Repeat important information
 Train customers to be
coproducers
 Tell customers why they want to
be coproducers

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

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

 Any set of procedures that

contributes to the completion of
customer service.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
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 Guidelines for System Design

1. Identify: an area in need of a new

procedure or a system update.
2. List: the steps necessary to create or
improve the system.
3. Review: the mission and purpose statement
to make sure that you stay on track with
the company’s goals.
4. Seek to empower: those involved, both
providers and customers.
5. Create a culture: that supports
empowerment.
6. Evaluate the system's effectiveness: after
it has been in operation for a specified
period of time.

Customer Service: A Practical © 2010 Pearson Higher Education,

Approach, 5e Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
13