What does customer service mean to you? To some it means nice and friendly service. Ever hear of “service with a smile”? Other people see it as the quality of a product that should never break. There are many interpretations of what customer service means. I guess you could say that good customer service is in the eye of the beholder.I think the first criteria to judge customer service would be the industry you’re in. By this I mean that you wouldn’t expect the cashier at the burger joint would be responsible for washing your car across the street. You wouldn’t want the taxi driver who brought you to the airport to also be the pilot on the airplane. Everybody has a job, but you can’t judge the performance of the cashier the same as you would the taxi driver.
Even as I say this, there are those who judge the customer service provided by all types of jobs the same way. Most of the time, these people have their own selfish criteria that they use to judge you. With this knowledge at hand, how can you live up to this customer’s expectations?
The customer is always right. Though we don’t want to admit it, the customer is your reason for working. When Len Roberts took hold of Radio Shack; he said,
“I don’t care what your job title is, because from this day forward, I recognize only two jobs in our company: You either serve the customer directly, or you serve someone who does.”
This rings true to any job or business. You either take care of the customer, or someone else will. Regardless of the limitations of your own duties, if you can’t satisfy the customer, they will go to someone who can.