When she noted that customer services skills are among the “highest valued job skills to possess”, Rachel Emmalee Brown, prolific author for social blog and news site, Oddessey.com, touched upon an indispensible, yet often overlooked, central theme. “Regardless of your dream job, most positions require people to have customer service experience”. Furthermore, even if the position does not specifically ask for this experience, you may find that navigating your work day with negligible customer service proficiency may create a challenging experience for all involved.
Customer service is essentially the process of supplying assistance to the public, namely consumers. The objective of a conscientious customer service representative is to ensure that the customer’s needs have been met, and that they leave the interaction with a positive view of the experience as well as the company for which you work and represent.
Yet, when many of us envision what customer service means, we may picture a crowded or noisy call-center with endless rows of cubicles enveloping busy phone-bound employees. While this is certainly one common aspect of the role, we may often forget that customer service is also a skill that carries a common thread through many professions, and in situations where it does not, it most certainly should.
Read on to discover why customer service is the cornerstone of good business, and why everyone should possess this important skill.
1. It is the center of all business transactions. Any successful business must be undoubtedly customer-focused. Whether you are an account executive, team leader, receptionist, production manager, cashier, or executive, you are ultimately providing a service to public, albeit directly or indirectly. Remembering to proudly, respectfully and ethically represent your company reflects well on you as a spokesperson for your company, and reinforces the performance reputation of the organization for which you work.
2. Customer Service skills help your personal growth. While considered a job skill, honing in on your customer service expertise, not only amplifies a greater sense of personal humility and helpfulness, but also boosts your social skills. Empathizing with the problems, or even frustrations, of others and working to solve their issues enhances your own trouble-shooting skills, as well as patience when dealing others. You may also find that you are simply more at ease with others, even while not at work.
3. You are increasing your job security. Impeccable customer service skills don’t just reflect well upon you as an employee, but also upon the company for which you work. We live in a society where websites like Yelp.com and Angie’s List are utilized each day for consumers to vent about their various customer experiences; whether positive or negative. By keeping your clientele as happy as possible, you are creating positive PR for your company; thereby increasing its overall profits and stability.
4. Those with Customer Service savvy are valued employees. Can you speak to the public with ease? Are you capable of calming an irate customer? Do you have a knack for solving even the trickiest of consumer or client issues? Remember that these skills make you a certain asset to your organization. Keep your worth in mind; as without your specific know-how, clientele will suffer, which of course, will create a negative domino effect for any business.
5. It is a conglomeration of various other skills. Proper customer service skills are not to be taken lightly by employers. For one to perfect their talent for effective customer service, there are often several other traits and factors at play. For instance, patience, positivity, problem-solving skills, respect, and courtesy are all qualities desired by employers, and are equally as important when it comes to providing quality customer service to your clientele. Therefore, possessing and seeking these traits during the hiring process ensures an organization that places value in their clientele. Brown reiterates, that [customer service] “is a constant learning process and we [should] always aim to be the best that we can be”. Employers “know if you give it your all”, and that should be appreciated.
6. It helps prepare you for your career goals. The range of professions which require customer service skills – even beyond the business sector – are seemingly endless. Meeting the demands of customers is a reality that does not cease, despite the industry with which you are affiliated. As Brown concludes, “Picture the moment when you become a CEO/Policy Analyst and you think of your first work experiences as a cashier [or] waiter/waitress a long time ago. You will look back one day and be proud of how far you’ve come”.
Related: The Recent Upward Shift in Customer Expectations
Stewart, Cooper & Coon, has helped thousands of decision makers and senior executives move up in their careers and achieve significantly improved financial packages within short time frames. Contact Fred Coon – 866-883-4200, Ext. 200