UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 39, Page E4
August 20, 1992
Employee Development and Training
Customer service answers

     All of the answers are FALSE. If you scored a perfect 10,
congratulations. If you scored higher than 13, your customer service
attitude could use some improvement. Let's review why the answers are
false.

   Q1. Customers do expect a lot of service. As a provider of
       customer service, it is not your job to define your customer's
       needs, but to respond to those needs.
   Q2. Why should the customer need to understand your problems?
       They are concerned with their own problems.
   Q3. The customer feels it is reasonable. Customers call when
       their work involves your unit. They do not want to wait.
   Q4. Some customers become very dependent on units they do
       business with. This is exactly what you want. Customers who
       feel comfortable calling you will become regulars.
   Q5. Try this: look at the second hand on your watch, then close
       your eyes. Keep them closed until you think a minute has
       elapsed, then open them. More than likely you opened your eyes
       before the minute was up. A minute can be a long time.
   Q6. The customer doesn't really care how busy you are. Customers
       want to feel important. When they call they expect your full
       attention.
   Q7. Yes, they probably should. Impatience, however, comes with
       the territory.
   Q8. A customer wants fast, courteous service. When they have to
       wait, they are not getting what they want. When callbacks are
       unavoidable, arrange to call the customer at a specific time.
       Do everything possible to honor this commitment.
   Q9. Some customers are too quick to talk to supervisors. When
       they ask to do so they are saying, "You are not meeting my
       needs and I want to talk with someone else." There will be
       times you cannot satisfy a customer. Discuss these situations
       with your supervisor to learn how they are to be handled.
   Q10. Yes, some customers could avoid calling you if they tried to
       solve their own problems. But why should they? The customer's
       view is, "That's your job." Why spend time solving problems if
       there is a more simple way to get a solution? Be grateful when
       customers call.

     Reprinted with permission from Telephone Courtesy and Customer
Service, Lloyd C. Finch, Crisp Publications, Inc. (c)1990.