---

Best Practices In Customer Service

We can learn a lot by looking at what successful companies do differently to gain their customer service reputations, looking both at what is done well, and the opposite - we can learn from the errors and mistakes of organizations too.

In this section we'll look at best practices in customer service.

One caution. Generally, it's not possible to copy or emulate what another company does, because your company is NOT that company. So, for example, you might want to emulate Zappos, a company renowned for its customer service, but the problem is you aren't Zappos, and in essence you can succeed doing what they do unless you ARE them, with their values, culture, personnel, and niche. So with that in mind, let's look at best practices in customer service.

Looking At Customer Service Best Practices

The Tools of Customer Service - by Dr. John T. Self
The author states that customer tools fall into two categories. They are tools internal to a company such as a mission statement and quality leadership. The other category is your customer. Learn how your customer can be one of your best customer service tools. (Added: 14-Dec-2004 Hits: 2059 )

Customer Meetings That Count - by Phyllis Sheerin Ross
If customer meetings are a fact of life within your business environment, there are some guidelines that you can follow to ensure that customer service is provided during casual and more formal meetings. Calling ahead and preparing an agenda are just two of the suggestions. See the article for more customer service meeting tips. (Added: 18-Jan-2005 Hits: 659 )

Fast Growth, Great Service - by Charles Fishman
Learn how the company called Convergys became successful and earned a reputation for great customer service. In a period of diminished hopes and slower growth, Convergys is a change of pace -- a company that's growing fast without sacrificing service. And it better not: service is its business. (Added: 2-Mar-2005 Hits: 629 )

God is in the Detailing - by Chris Wright
The owner of Aladdin's Auto Service Center services not only auto bodies but also human spirits. (Added: 10-Apr-2006 Hits: 414 )

A Heartbreaking Gesture of Staggering Kindness - by Keith M. Hammonds
Read how the author was treated to great customer service. The author was not even a customer before this act of kindness. This is a good lesson to keep in mind when you want to improve customer service or let someone know your definition of customer service. (Added: 1-Mar-2005 Hits: 1541 )

Why Isn't Customer Service Better? - by Dr. John T. Self
The current customer service paradigm is dead, claims the author. A new paradigm should be created. See exactly what the author means when you read the article. (Added: 14-Dec-2004 Hits: 975 )

Customer Service: Lessons Learned - by Mike McKinley
The author talks about how to learn the best lessons in customer service. Solid advice that won't cost a cent. You don't have to hire an expert when you follow his advice. (Added: 25-Mar-2010 Hits: 604 )

Trust: A Competitive Advantage - Customer Service - by Pam McGee
Learn how low-trust environments can harm your customer service reputation and your organization's bottom line. When you read this article you will be convinced that gaining your clients' trust will give you that extra edge that will put you over the top in terms of customer service. (Added: 29-Mar-2010 Hits: 503 )

Four Who Know How - by Alan M. Webber
Best-practice answers to the four key customer service questions. The four companies that certainly do know how are: Willow Creek Community Church, Hitachi Data Systems, General Electric Medical Systems, Peoplesoft Inc. (Added: 2-Mar-2005 Hits: 887 )

The Best Little Grocery Store In America - by Susan Greco
Green Hills Farms, a small family grocery in upstate New York, has big companies around the country clamoring to know the secrets behind its powerful customer-loyalty program. (Added: 10-Apr-2006 Hits: 921 )

This Call May Be Monitored - by Jennifer Gill
Auto dealer Tony Chapman harbors no illusions. Chapman, the general manager of Toyota Scion Lincoln Mercury of Hollywood -- part of a chain of eight Los Angeles dealers -- knows that most people consider car salesmen pushy, obnoxious, and not particularly trustworthy. Still, he is convinced his dealership is different -- and he spends about $100,000 a month in advertising to spread that message. (Added: 10-Apr-2006 Hits: 910 )

Common Threads - by Donna Fenn
Joe Fulmer, CEO of Stitching Post, deliberately transformed his store into the kind of place where customers socialize with one another. (Added: 10-Apr-2006 Hits: 914 )

Is Everything OK? Improving Customer Service by John T. Self - by Dr. John T. Self
According to the author there are three key questions to ask a customer when you are inquiring about the quality of service you are them. The first is to allow time for the customer to respond to your question and listen carefully to the answers. Read the article for the two other important keys. (Added: 14-Dec-2004 Hits: 1240 )

Turning A Company Around - by Ryan Underwood
Gary Loveman's lane change from tenure-track professor at Harvard Business School to his new job as CEO of Harrah's Entertainment is the stuff of Las Vegas legend. In the five years that he spent as COO and later president, Loveman used Harrah's as the ultimate testing ground for his classroom ideas on consumer retailing. It was a perfect roll of the dice. Harrah's revenue has zoomed up fivefold since Loveman came on the scene, making the company -- which was once a has-been on the Strip -- one of the most profitable gaming companies in the world. (Added: 7-Mar-2005 Hits: 925 )

The Toll of a New Machine - by Charles Fishman
It started with ATMs. Then gas stations. Now self-service kiosks are taking over airports and invading McDonald's restaurants. Is this the face of the jobless recovery? Or will automation make service better for workers and customers alike? (Added: 20-Mar-2005 Hits: 399 )

Who Cares About Customers? - by Charles Fishman
Mark Jarvis is a supervisor on the DirecTV account. his world looks simple, routine -- like a white-collar assembly line. hundreds of people sit at computers, talking through headsets, answering questions about bills, explaining schedules for pay-per-view movies. Look deeper, though, and a different world comes into focus -- a world of subtlety and soul, of favors and friendship. (Added: 20-Mar-2005 Hits: 1303 )

How to...manage customer expectations - by Jason Compton
Making the sale is paramount, but no customer relationship will stand the test of time unless it is built on a sustainable cycle of give-and-take, with clearly defined roles for each party. Surprises and inequities are not the stuff of long-term engagements. Follow these four steps to ensure that your customers know what you will do for them--and what is not a reasonable expectation. pop (Added: 14-Apr-2005 Hits: 3714 )

Customer Service, Not Customer Servitude - by Dr. John T. Self
When service staff must deal with rude customers who treat them like servants, the service staff can start to feel like servants and not customer service providers. There are ways to prevent this attitude taking shape. Read this article to learn what you can do to help your staff retain their great attitude that reflects your company's customer service ethic. pop (Added: 14-Dec-2004 Hits: 4829 )

How May I Help You? - by Lucy McCauley
You already know that the customer is always right, right? But these days -- given the speed and interactivity of the Internet, the explosion of customer choice, the emergence of new competitive pressures, and the constant expansion of customers' expectations for service -- just giving customers what they want isn't enough. You also have to anticipate needs, to solve problems before they start, to provide service that wows, and to offer responses to mistakes that more than make up for the original error. To find out what it takes to deliver great customer service, Fast Company asked 15 experts for their insights. Here are their answers to the question: (Added: 7-Mar-2005 Hits: 2169 )

Setting and Measuring Service Standards - by Peggy Morrow
In this excerpt from Customer Service -- the Key to Your Competitive Edge, author Peggy Morrow gives us an inside look at the customer service improvement strategy of retailer Revco Drug Stores. (Added: 10-Apr-2006 Hits: 853 )