Solution Manual for Customer Service Skills for Success ISE 8e Robert W. Lucas

Solution Manual for Customer Service Skills for Success ISE 8e Robert W. Lucas-I. Defining Customer Service  Customer service is the ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business.  Depending on an organization’s focus, such as retailing, medical, etc., the goals of providing customer service may vary.  Service industry is a term used to describe businesses and organizations that are engaged primarily in-service delivery. Service sector is a more accurate term, since many organizations provide some form of service to their customers even though they are primarily engaged in research, development, and manufacture of products.  Product is something produced or an output by an individual or organization. In the service environment, products are created to satisfy customer needs or wants.  A customer-focused organization is a company that spends energy and effort on satisfying internal and external customers by first identifying customer needs, and then establishing policies, procedures, and management and reward systems to support excellence in service delivery.  Customer relationship management (CRM) is the concept of identifying customer needs: understanding and influencing customer behavior through ongoing communication strategies to acquire, retain, and satisfy the customer. The ultimate goal is customer loyalty.  Some common characteristics of leading-edge customer-focused organizations are: o They have internal customers (for example, peers, coworkers, etc.) and/or external customers (for example, vendors, suppliers, etc.). o Their focus is on determining and meeting the needs of customers while treating everyone with respect and as if he or she is special. o Information, products, and services are easily accessible by customers. o Policies are in place to allow employees to make decisions in order to serve customers better. o Having customer-focused systems and policies in place. o Management and systems support and appropriately reward employee efforts to serve customers. o Reevaluation and quantitative measurement of the way business is conducted is ongoing and results in necessary changes and upgrades to deliver timely quality service to the customer. o Continual benchmarking or comparison with competitors and related organizations helps maintain an acute awareness and implementation of best service practices by the organization. o The latest technology is used to connect with and provide service to customers, vendors, or suppliers and to support business operations. o They build relationships through customer relationship management (CRM) programs.  All companies and organizations have internal or external customers, or both. Internal customers are people within the organization who either require support and service or provide information, products, and services to service providers who interact with external customers. External customers are those people outside the organization who purchase or lease products and services.  The term service sector as used by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in their reports and projections typically includes: o Transportation, communication, and utilities o Wholesale trade o Retail trade o Finance, insurance, and real estate o Other services (including businesses such as legal firms, barbershops and beauty salons, personal services, housekeeping, and accounting) o Federal government o State and local governments