What’s in a Name? Customer Service vs Customer Care
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote “what’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. While that may genuinely be true, if a rose is referred to as a dandelion it doesn’t hold the same value in our minds. The same is true for the name you give your client support team. A different name presents a different level of expectation. First to your team members and then to your customers.
The term customer service can evoke the sense of a “means to an end”. Customer service involves the internal process by which your customers are assisted. Patrons reach out to customer service specialists in order to complete transactions or for technical support. The specialist on the other end is contacted simply to fill a need and provide a service. There is a degree of separation between the two individuals. A customer service interaction may not fill the gap that makes the difference between a one-time purchase and a new, loyal customer.
On the other hand, customer care is a new mental playing field. Your customer care team will be prone to going the extra mile as they “care” for their customers. They will seek to befriend your clients, even for just a few minutes. Caring for customers is a perspective that sees people, not dollars. They will see people like themselves who have questions or need support. Customer care is a position of interaction that goes beyond closing a sale and into developing a relationship. Your customer care team will seek to relate to the customer during a pleasant and memorable interaction. The end goal is customer satisfaction.
There are schools of thought that say it doesn’t matter what you name your team – the ultimate goal is to have satisfied customers and retain business. However, if the simple act of modifying the name of your customer relations team improves their performance, courtesy, and enjoyment of their job, it’s a step well worth taking. Satisfied employees will lead to satisfied customers and a strong bottom line.
Contact At Your Service Consulting today to learn more about taking your team from customer service to customer care and Delivering Out of the Ordinary Results!
Originally posted 2016-05-21 19:08:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
0 Comments on "What’s in a Name? Customer Service vs Customer Care"