Customer Service Topic Sheets

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

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

People continually strive to achieve the greatest utility they can (i.e. maximise the benefit they gain for whatever cost they incur), they migrate to the suppliers that come closest to delivering it. In other words they search for and stay with companies that do best what matters most to customers. Customer satisfaction is the phrase commonly used to encapsulate this phenomenon.

Change management is defined as the process of changing one or more aspects of an organisation, e.g. processes, technology, people's roles and responsibilities, reporting structures, facilities, place and hours of work.

If we agree that a key organisational driver is to deliver customer service in a way that satisfies our customers, so it's important to know how satisfied our customers are. What are the techniques involved?

Business ethics is the application of ethical values to business behaviour. It applies to any and all aspects of business conduct, from boardroom strategies and how companies treat their employees and suppliers to sales techniques and accounting practices

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a technology-based facility to enable a customer to interact with a computer by voice and keypad input

Where a complaint can't be resolved at point of entry, it will required to be escalated or referred up the line. In some cases, a complaint may reach deadlock.

There are some simple steps that if followed can ensure that complaints are resolved effectively

This topic sheet looks at why communication is so important and offers some crucial principles to bear in mind when communicating with customers, whether over the phone, in person or in writing.