This month’s theme is customer service.
Job definition:
Interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services and to handle and resolve complaints.
Sample of reported job titles: Account Manager, Account Representative, Call Center Representative, Client Services Representative, Customer Care Representative (CCR), Customer Service Agent, Customer Service Representative (Customer Service Rep), Customer Service Specialist, Member Services Representative, Sales Facilitator
I’ve compiled my favorite sites, philosophy, books about how a BOSS should look at the customer service job itself, but more so the place of customer service in the culture and marketing of the business.
A couple key take-a-ways:
- Look at customer service costs as a marketing expense
- See customer service as a profit generating function and develop appropriate measures.
- Answer the phones. (emails, chats, comments)
- Respond as quick as makes sense.
- You want your customers to be satisfied when buying your product/service — They also need to have a good experience when they need to return or want a refund or have a failure or a complaint.
- Customer service employees NEED company specific training. Give them tools. Let them know how to solve customers problems.
- Have a system to get customer service feedback communicated back to development and marketing teams.
Resources:
Derek Sivers – The philosophy of great customer service.
Tony Hsieh – Founder of Zappos – Book called Delivering Happiness
ONET job details — resource for creating job descriptions and analysis.