The Importance of Quality Customer Service in the Workplace

It’s only fair to raise a toast to what was known as the “grumpy boss type” – the type who insisted that employees pick up customer calls on no more than the second ring or incur his wrath. It was one way these bosses could define quality customer service in one pithy sentence: Be quick, be efficient and be responsive. To employees, the expectation may have seemed over the top in the past. But now, amid tangible signs of economic recovery, it’s easier to see that “customer service” is more important than ever.

Try to Define Quality Customer Service

It’s not easy to define what quality customer is, any more than it’s easy to define what it means to be a good employee, a great boss or a caring mentor. Those value words can trip you up every time because everybody tends to define them somewhat differently. Still, the notion of quality customer service isn’t so obscure that you can’t form a consensus on some general ideas. MyPerfectResume says that quality customer service should be attentive, timely and upbeat. Notable by its absence is “professional,” another value word that manifests itself in various behaviors – like the grumpy boss who demands precious few rings of the workplace phone lines.

If you and your colleagues have renewed your focus on providing quality customer service, Indeed suggests that seven customer service skills will serve you well in every customer interaction:

• Active listening
• Communication
• Empathy
• Patience

• Positivity

• Problem-solving

• Punctuality

Whether you read about, attend a webinar on or role-play customer service techniques with coworkers, it may help to do so with the knowledge of two basic truisms: Superior customer service skills can result not only in happy customers but also produce myriad other benefits in the workplace.

Happy Customers Matter

HubSpot explains why happy customers matter so much to the success of a business:

• Happy customers are likely to be repeat customers. And as most business owners know, it’s much cheaper to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. This reality should hold added resonance since research suggests that marketing spends declined even more than money devoted to customer service and outreach efforts during the pandemic.

• Happy customers are usually loyal customers. At the risk of reducing their value to monetary terms, there is a metric known as customer lifetime value, meaning the revenue one customer can generate for a business over his lifetime. Loyalty over a long period of time is an important link.

• Happy customers are generally equally happy to spread the word of their positive experience with a business with others, creating a domino effect of goodwill. The phenomenon proves that word-of-mouth arguably remains the most powerful marketing tool in a business’ arsenal.

• Happy customers are usually eager to talk about (and rate) their experiences with a company, which can potentially produce a treasure trove of information that a business can use in all facets of its operation, from sales and marketing to quality control and returns. Rewarding these insights (culled through surveys and follow-up emails) isn’t difficult and well worth the time it takes.

• Happy customers are often willing to pay more and spend more with companies that provide quality customer service. This is not to say that money doesn’t matter to them; it does. But service matters more. At a time when consumers are supposedly expecting less in the way of customer service, it makes sense that a business that prioritizes it will stand out.

It usually doesn’t take long for a business to identify its happiest customers. It’s worth taking special care of this group, maybe even to the point of inviting them to become brand ambassadors, or people who make a regular commitment to speak on a business’ behalf.

Embrace the Importance of Quality Service

Without forgetting the influence of happy customers, there are other benefits to making quality customer service the highest priority in your workplace. Among them:

• Customer service reflects a business’ image and values. You can dazzle people with ads, social media messages and provocative website content, but consumers tend to relegate these efforts to “all talk” if they’re inconsistent with a brand that purports to put its customers first.
• Customer service naturally imbues a business with something it covets most: a competitive advantage that relegates other businesses to second, third and fourth place.
• Customer service creates marketing and promotional opportunities so plentiful that you haven’t even developed some of them yet. This is when you know that you’ve hit the marketing jackpot: when customers are so vested in your business that they’re willing to sing your praises.
• Customer service will ideally nudge your business to create not just the multichannel but also the omnichannel experiences customers say they want. In other words, instead of using a website, social media and digital to communicate with your business, all of these tactics are interconnected to create one seamless (omnichannel) consumer experience.

In the end, your business should reap countless dividends and grow stronger. That’s worth toasting, too – as long as the celebration doesn’t drown out the sound of the office phone.