Lesson 4: Using Service-Focused Language

The person who interacts directly with our customers (or even co-workers) determines whether that customer perceives that he or she is receiving excellent or poor service. You have the power to affect their perceptions. Your interaction is where “the rubber meets the road.” Your words and behaviors create a positive customer perception of you and of School Webmasters as a company. So, the goal is to create positive opinions. You will do this with a positive attitude and by using service-focused language.

What’s in it for you?

Let’s be honest. Is there any real personal benefit of going to all the extra effort to provide outstanding customer service to both our customers and our co-workers? The answer is, absolutely!

1. When you know that you are making a difference, you will derive pride in your work. Delivering high-quality customer service and knowing that you are helping others is very rewarding personally. When you can calm someone down, that is an achievement. When you have helped someone solve a problem or learn something new, that is satisfying. We all take pride in doing a good job. (Besides, studies show that “giving” lights up our brain’s pleasure and reward centers just as if we were the recipient of the good deed. So, you’ll get a boost of the feel-good endorphins that can lower stress and cause us to feel more empathy towards others with these positive symptoms lasting up to 2 hours!)
2. You can save yourself time and hassle by understanding how to provide customer service that is needed—and those skills will transfer to all interactions in your personal life as well.
3. Knowing and applying the skills for outstanding customer service make you an appreciated employee. You’ll be recognized for the worth you add to the company.

Who are our customers?

We have two types of customers. There are internal customers (co-workers, managers, others within our organization or working with us) and there are external customers (employees who work for our customers whether they are schools, organizations, or businesses as well as the parents and students who attend those schools and even the customers of those websites we support). Basically, anyone we deal with becomes a customer.

Is it true that the customer is always right?

Nope. It simply isn’t possible to give every customer what they want or what they think they want. But there are two other goals we can strive to achieve and those are:

• Our customer deserves to be treated as if he or she is important to us and his or her opinions, needs, and wants are worth our attention.
• Our customer deserves our maximum effort, even when his or her expectations, wants, or needs may be impractical (or not in their own best interests).

So, if we can’t always give the customer what he or she wants, we can contribute to the customer’s positive impression and possibly provide an even better solution than they request. Outstanding customer service isn't about what we provide to our customer but how we provide it.

What do our customers REALLY want?

They want their problems solved. They want to be acknowledged and understood. They want choices and options. They love positive surprises (when we go above and beyond their expectations). They expect consistency, reliability, and accuracy. They want us to do the job more quickly than they can do it themselves. They want us to make their job a bit easier. They want us to make their complex world a bit simpler. And, last but not least, our customers want to feel that they are important. When we listen and acknowledge them, we demonstrate that we believe they are important. If you keep our customer’s needs and wants in mind as you are working with them, you’ll be successful at making a positive impression.

The next few customer service topics will cover some of the basic customer service tools and techniques to help you succeed as well as help you have a better understanding of what service-focused language is all about.