Great customer service is genuine customer service.

A customer that seems to be cared about is not the same as a customer who is cared about... and it shows in the quality of the service.

The evolution of customer service requires that we nurture and develop the qualities that establish great customer service. Qualities like patience, tolerance and empathy enable the sort of human interaction that should exemplify fantastic customer service.

It is not enough to request that a customer service representative 'smile' for the customer because a smile is not just a facial movement. And it is not enough that anyone be asked to seem to empathise with a customer because this is not empathy.

When such pretences are encouraged then a pressure is placed on an individual to at times behave against their own nature. For some people this might be for a few minutes during their day, for others it might be all day long, but if we are expected to behave against our natural disposition then this pressure will induce stress that inevitably leads to lower performance and contributes to higher job turnover - both of which result in lower customer satisfaction.

Every human being has the capacity for limitless patience, tolerance and empathy, if customer service is to progress then it must nurture and develop these qualities so that customer service becomes sincere. The customer benefits and the employee benefits, and ultimately, the business benefits.

mindatrisk,

I agree customer service should be a natural experience. But are you saying the qualities/behaviors you describe cannot be learned? If so, how do we ensure we employ the "right" kind of people in customer service?

Appreciate your/other member views.

G.

Hi Glath...

These qualities absolutely can be learned. I am in the process of setting up a business that teaches people how to develop these qualities. The business is not primarily for customer service but i am looking to see if my ideas and theories could be applicable, and then finding an angle i could approach this from.

The 'right' kind of people are the human type! It is as simple as that. Every human being has the capacity to express these qualities to a limitless degree given the continued nurturing of these qualities, and the key to motivating people to develop these qualities is simply to show them how they benefit from embodying these qualities, i.e. how patience / tolerance etc. makes them happier.

If these qualities can be nurtured successfully then customer service will mature into nothing but the most desirable human interaction. There will be no need to train people in how to present a facade of great customer service, or any other tricks or devices to please the customer, instead the service will be intuitive, natural, compassionate and - most interestingly - spontaneous. So, instead of having a formula for customer service, the service will be unique to each customer service representative.

I think this could be very interesting. Every human being is unique, with unique quirks, character traits, humours and methods of solving problems, and utilising this uniqueness rather than appropriating individuals into a sort of hive mind would make customer service not only more exciting, but more progressive as individuals explore new ideas and approaches. This would, of course, require huge confidence in employees, but with a gentle introduction and continued nurturing then any company that latches onto these ideas could find themselves accelerating far beyond the competition.