Do you really have Customer Service ?

In all the years I have been working in the corporate world customer service seems to be one of the most widely used "key terms". Everyone wants to tell you they have great customer service. Many sales people even tout their fantastic customer service skills over their sales ability.

What happens when you finally have the chance to prove your customer service skills ? Many companies talk the talk but have no real interest in truly servicing their clients. The time and cost to provide true customer service can be large.

Is customer service bending to any and all requests and needs your client has? How far do you go? Is there a company policy? How did the company make the policy? Was it based on customer input or standards the company set?

How does online verses storefront customer service compare? Most companies have both a corporate physical and an online/internet presence. Is it different from one to the next?

In today's world of business you maybe dealing with someone thousands of miles away. Does that change the customer service dynamic? I think the answer is yes but should it?

Think about your industry and the customer service needs. Does your company match up to the needs of your customers? Do you have a policy that is fair and uses today's mindsets verses standards that may have been set tens of years ago?

I would suggest customer service is not a person or even a department in a company. it is the culture of a company. That means whomever owns /runs the company establishes it and makes sure their employees embrace and own it.

Customer service is looked at may times as the "mistake resolution" department. Is that really what it should be? What message is being sent with that mindset?

I like an old word that has been overlooked today in all the wordsmithing we do to market a company. How about "responsible". We should be responsible to our clients. We own the situation. We should have the answers and understand the issues before we get to mistake resolution time.

Knowledge is empowerment.