TAKING AN HONEST LOOK AT YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Customer Service is Accountability and Delivery.

It is also Fundamental,Simple,Daily,Time oriented,Persevering and Specific. Survival in the world of customer service is predicated on critical evaluation.

Honest self appraisal is necessary if you are to understand the quality of service your company or organization is offering the customer.

Take a look at this Self-Evaluation Questionnaire

Use the following ten questions to see if you are delivering bronze, silver, or gold level customer service. Stepping back and objectively assessing yourself will help you see what your personal service strengths are and where you may need to devote some extra attention.

Remember, be honest!

Use the following numbers to evaluate each question:

0 = Rarely 1 = Sometimes 2 = Often 3 = Almost Always

1) When having a conversation with a customer, do I give him or her my complete attention and avoid doing other activities like (working on the computer, writing unnecessarily, doing a crossword puzzle, and so on)?

2) Do I make eye contact when speaking with a customer to show that I am paying attention?

3) When speaking to a customer over the phone, do I make an effort to use inflection in my voice to convey interest and concern?

4) Do I pick up the telephone by the third ring?

5) When I need to put a customer on hold, do I ask his or her permission and wait for a response before doing so?

6) Do I avoid technical jargon and use language that the customer can understand?

7) When I cannot provide my customer with exactly what he or she wants, do I suggest options and alternatives?

8) Do I sincerely apologize to the customer when a mistake has been made by me or my company?

9) When a customer is voicing a complaint, do I remain calm and understanding, even if I think he or she is wrong?

10) Do I view customer complaints as an opportunity to improve service rather than as a problem that is taking up valuable time?

TOTAL SCORE =

SCORING - Add together the scores of all ten questions and then look below to see how you did.

If you scored:

0 – 12 points: you are at the Bronze Level

13 – 22 points: you are at the Silver Level

23 – 30 points: you are at the Gold Level
For specifics about what your score means and where to go from here, find your level described below and read on.

BRONZE - Scoring at this level doesn’t mean that you don’t care about customers; it is due to one of the following three reasons:

•You are a newcomer to the service field and are still learning how to deal with customers
•You are a seasoned service provider but may have become a little rusty on some of the basics that you once practiced.
•Job suitability. Over the years, we have met certain people who just don’t enjoy dealing with customers or helping others solve problems. Nothing is wrong with them; they just work better by themselves. If this situation applies to you, you might consider either changing jobs or changing the focus of the job you currently hold.

SILVER - You have a solid understanding of the basics, but you are not using them consistently.

•The probable reason for this inconsistency is that you are overwhelmed by the functions of your job. On good days, you give good service, and on bad days, you give bad service.

The key is to become more consistent with your attitude.
•Remember that regardless of the time you spend with a customer (be it a 30-second phone call or a one-hour meeting) and regardless of how busy you are, you always have a personal choice about your attitude. It takes about 30 days to form a new habit, so make a point of practicing the items covered in the questionnaire every time you deal with a customer – especially when you don’t feel like it!

GOLD – Congratulations - you are a professional. You seem to have the basics down and are ready for larger challenges. To continue to grow, consider the following:

•Once you have finished evaluating yourself, get another perspective by having a co-worker you know and trust evaluate you. He or she may see areas for improvement that are blind spots to you.
•Go beyond the basics of service. Educate yourself in the more sophisticated service skills by learning to take initiative. We suggest you go through the above questionnaire a second time and replace the word customer with the words staff member. Doing so will help you to evaluate how good a job you are doing of treating your staff as internal customers.