How you define customer service?

“There is only one boss, and whether one shines shoes for a living or heads up the biggest corporation in the world, the boss remains the same. It is the customer!”-Sam M. Walton, CEO Wal-Mart 

Behind the success of any business in the world is the seriousness of its leaders towards their customers. They know how important a customer is to their operations and how adversely it can impact their setup if not treated properly. Not all companies which start, make it large as Wal-Mart or Apple. It all depends upon the way you see your customers. Who they are to you and are you ready to go an extra mile to provide them one good experience. 

How you define customer service shapes your relationship with the customers. Mere exchange of products for monies is not customer service. Doing something over it that gives them satisfaction is all that they need. As a happy and satisfied customer will bring more business than any well designed marketing strategy.


It’s a customer who pays everyone’s salary, decides a company’s fate or can fire anyone just by spending his money somewhere else. Customers need satisfaction in return to the money they have paid. Someone to listen to them, hold their hand and take them through the process. A company must understand what is motivating their customers to buy their product and focus on their needs, research on their habits and expectations. 

Let’s study few basic needs of every customer:

1)      Politeness : Being the most basic it needs utmost care. The representatives of any company need to be very polite while addressing their customers. People from hospitality and aviation industry would understand this better.  
2)      Acknowledgement : Customers should feel their needs are being acknowledged. Their voice is being heard and attention is being given to what they asked for.
3)      Apology : Understanding human nature, An apology if served right can transform an angry customer into a sweet angel and do the service recovery in just few seconds. 
4)      Empathy : A proper response is much needed after hearing to the customer. A customer must feel that you appreciate the circumstances and would have felt the same if you were at their place.
5)      Sympathy: Though close to empathy yet different. Telling a customer how sorry you are for their loss or feeling glad on their achievements.   
  
6)      Information : A customer will always love to know about the products and services you offer, if you’re able to serve them all this information without wasting much of their time.

Here’s a small video that shows a customer service representative attending to all the needs of the customer and turning him to be a happy customer.