So Let's talk Customer Service

I have meaning to writing a post about Customer Service for a while, but I have been distracted on which direction to take this in. With a lack of direction for a singular post I have decided to do a four part series on this topic. 

Customer Service is a term that is thrown around all the time no matter what business you are in. In retail, customer service determines if your store is worth shopping at. In restaurants, customer service determines if a customer is going to be coming back. This is just the first round of what customer service can mean.

Instead of just focusing on what I may think customer service is or what managers/professors have taught what customer service is, let's look at how the American Marketing Association (AMA) defines Customer Service.

The AMA has a couple different definitions of what Customer Service stands for in different perspectives. They are as followed:

Customer Service (physical distribution)

A customer-oriented corporate philosophy that integrates and manages all of the elements of the customer interface within a predetermined cost-service mix.

Customer Service ( production development)

The identifiable, but essentially intangible, activities that are offered by a seller in conjunction with a product, such as delivery and repair. These activities may be priced separately, but usually are not, and are provided only with a product that is being sold. These activities are not to be confused with intangible products (services), the types of products for which the activity is the primary purpose of a sale. The sale of service products may be accompanied by the provision of customer services, an example being the courteous treatment a bank client receives when entering the lobby for the purchase of any of several service products such as check cashing or a loan.

Customer Service (retailing)

The set of retail activities that increase the value customers receive when they shop and purchase merchandise.

To get this straight, there are a total of three definitions of Customer Service and the main parts of these definitions are as followed:

• Customer-oriented philosophy that is to help integrate and manage
• It is identifiable, but intangible
• It is to increase value

Each of these definitions builds upon each other, which makes sense. The first definition deals more with corporate, the next one deals with production and the seller, and the last deals with retail or an ending point of a supply chain when the consumer has access to the final product.

It seems repetitive to state these definitions in different ways, but these concepts will be important to understand the point of view I will be writing in.

I understand that I have not gone in-depth with this particular article, but this is just the base post which will be leading to more in-depth posts. I will also be doing some research on this topic as well so it is not just an opinion series, but more balanced.

If there is a particular point you want me to cover in customer service, please let me know. I would love to do research in different perspectives to have a more well-rounded post.

To give a glimpse of what is to come with this series:

1. Importance of Customer Service
2. The Customer Service Funnel Effect
3. My Customer Service Experience