Customer Service Topic Sheets

Customer experiences are formed by a series of interactions with an organisation. It is desirable but uncommon to provide 100% solutions at one source to all customer needs. The delivery of suitable outcomes is therefore dependant on a chain of service, sometimes involving a number of different internal departments or even external suppliers. The service chain is only as good as its weakest link and any breakdown will affect the customer experience and the organisational reputation.

Over the last few years coaching has been recognised as a powerful tool for ongoing development after training has taken place

Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of a business function to an external service provider.

How can we tell how satisfied our customers are?

Do people talk about your organisation? It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it

Self-service is the practice of serving oneself when interacting with a supplier of goods or services. eService is a term used to describe self-service via the internet

This topic explores how specific responsibility and hence accountability for customer service rests with an appropriate person and how the ethos of collective responsibility and individual accountability sit with each other.

A Mission Statement defines what an organisation does. A Vision Statement describes what the organisation wants to become.

A contact centre or call centre is a centralised office used for receiving and/or making customer contacts by telephone, email fax or webchat

Organisations are now accommodating a wide variety of work practices. Roles in customer service are ideal for such flexibility.