Robert Perry – Customer Service Week 11 Discussion

Customer Service for the 21st Century

Five challenges facing effective customer service.

Effective Communication

Companies that initiate communications with customers must meet the demands of the expanding population. In most metropolitan areas, businesses begin with a good intention, set their focus 100% of their time and energy on appealing to the customer. After a couple of weeks, they begin to feel comfortable and start to relax. This is when the critical meltdowns occur and this is where businesses of the 21^st century must change in order to maintain their businesses. The most effective way to maintain a 100% focus on customer service environment is to setup the organization with teamwork. Having employees that are capable of working together and who do not know the meaning of the word individual is an intelligent way to accomplish business. No matter what the business occupation is, every business can benefit from better teamwork and multi diverse employees.

Employee Misconduct

Employees who misbehave during the hours of operations are wasting both time and money. On average, the 8-hour workday has between six and six-and-one-half hour's worth of useful time. Companies should create an atmosphere in the organization that is competitive to the point that it would deter misbehavior and horseplay. If the employees group together in teams and the teams compete for special privileges, then these teams will have goals that they can achieve together. Special privileges could consist of many different things but they should all consist of benefits that help both the company and to the employee.

Salary Justification

It is a known fact that a happy employee is a well-paid employee. Any company that takes care of its employees by means of generous monetary endorsements knows what the benefits are to spending the extra money. Take Microsoft for example, Microsoft has more millionaires on its staff than any other company in the world. These millionaires would rather work for Microsoft than any other company in the world because Microsoft takes care of them in every way. The salary of the employees translates down to the fundamentals of customer service. If a customer service rep. is unhappy, they will displace their positive mental attitude without realizing that they have done so.

Office Technology Organization

Every company within the fortune 500 knows the importance of CSR software. Implementation of CSR software within a corporate network gives the employee data about the customer they are talking with. Better CSR software cost the company more money up front, but its benefits are worth more than the upfront costs. Companies could implement extranet and intranet systems to collaborate the information between departments. With automated telephone systems and the World Wide Web, customers can deliver information directly into these CSR applications. This leaves little chance of mistake on the part of the organization and places more responsibility on the customer.

Engineering, Research, and Development

Companies should always continue to grow and flourish. They should always engineer new methods to manage their relationship with the customer. Research and Development are critical to assessing weaknesses within a company.