The Customer Service Philosophy I wrote is a summary of what I believe Customer Service consists of. Five criteria is how I chose to summarize what I took away the most; internal and external customers, communicating, ways to keep from creating challenging customers, customer retention, & methods of saying thank you and motivating others.

1. Ali Schoneman
Customer Service Philosophy
11-28-2016
Customer Service isn’t just a counter in a store or a 1-800 number you call. Customer
Service is the way in which you treat all customers. Bill Gates once said, “Your most unhappy
customers are your greatest source of learning.” To me, that quote really brings into perspective
that customer service is part of every job and isn’t just problem solving broken products.
Customer service is learning how to communicate efficiently in every encounter with a customer.
In this class the five criteria I took away the most were regarding: internal and external
customers, communicating, ways to keep from creating challenging customers, customer
retention, & methods of saying thank you and motivating others.
First, we look into what our internal and external customers really are. The book defines
external customers as “the customers we do business with outside our organization” (Harris 6). I
understand external customers as the clients or customers that come into our business every day
to receive our services or products. I work in a bank, so to me this would be the clients who have
accounts with us or those looking to create loans or other products. In our book, they define
internal customers as “the people we work with throughout our organization” (Harris 6). Once
again from the bank perspective, I would consider these to be my coworkers or the internal
support I receive from others within our company. Whether I call the help desk or deal with the
people we order our checks from, these would all be internal customers. I think internal
customers are very important if not more important than external customers. If you do not work
well with those internally, you will likely have a negative impact on those externally.
Recognizing all customers is a huge factor in customer service.

2. The next criteria that stands out to me for customer service is communicating.
Communication is defined in our book as “the process in which information, ideas, and
understanding are shared between two (or more) people” (Harris 73). In order to have an
effective interaction with a customer you must communicate well. To communicate you have
five main methods to do so: listening, writing, talking, reading, & nonverbal expression. One
may say that one is more important than another, but to me they are all equal. If you listen well
but do not have good nonverbal expressions, you are gaining nothing. You need to be able to
display all of these effectively in order to make your customer feel valued and appreciated.
Communication occurs at all stages of customer service.
From there we go to tips to keep from creating challenging customers. In all areas of
customer service, you are going to find yourself with challenging customers. In the bank
perspective, we have many things that can easily create a challenging customer. This point really
stuck out to me because I like to avoid a challenging customer in any circumstance. Our book
suggests tips to help you avoid creating challenging customers and I think these could help
many. There are five tips: “Respect the customer’s time, do not impose your bad or negative
mood on anyone else, recognize regular customers with a smile and try to learn their names,
avoid destructive remarks, & show initiative” (Harris 92). These tips to me really help put things
in perspective. When a client walks into the bank I need to greet them if I know their name, and
if not I should learn it. I should respect their time by helping them as quickly and efficiently as
possible. I should apologize if I run into something that causes a delay. I should not make
negative comments about anything they request, as I am there to provide a service for them and
not to complain. I should also show initiative that I want to help them and that they, in no way,
are a burden to me. Regardless of my day, I should bring my customers, both internally and

3. externally, my very best attitude. ‘Leave your problems at the door’ was how my previous boss
always said it and that could not be more true to help simplify these tips.
The next criteria that stood out to me was customer retention. Customer retention is
defined as “the continuous attempt to satisfy and keep current customers actively involved in
conducting business” (Harris 137). This stood out as it is stressed a lot at the bank. It is easier to
keep current clients then to find new ones. Sometimes keeping clients means going the extra mile
or keeping things the same for one customer when things change for others. You have to be
flexible and know your customers and what is best for them. For example, at the bank, we just
began to charge for check blanks. Our bank stressed it was not worth losing customers over, so if
a customer is really upset by this we will waive the fee to keep the customer. It is all about being
proactive to do what is best for our clients. Another thing we do to keep customer retention at the
bank is we are always looking for opportunities to help our clients. Whether it is finding a better
type of checking account to make their money work better for them or referring them to our
financial advisor, we are always wanting to help them get the most out of our services.
The last criteria that stood out the most to me was methods of saying thank you and
motivating others. I feel that we do not praise each other enough in our job fields today. Whether
it is being a waitress or being a bank teller I like to try to thank my coworkers and customers as
often as I can for helping me out. Coworkers are often helpful in accomplishing projects,
answering questions, and just helping get through a shift. Customers deserve a thank you for
being patient and respecting me as I am in a position that is meant to work for them. By giving
praise and saying thanks we motivate each other to do our best at every task we try to
accomplish. This is a huge part of being in a career you love and recognizing all the good that

4. gets done every day. The book says it well to sum this section up, “Saying thank you does not
have to be expensive, but it can have rewards that are beyond measure” (Harris 117).
“Customer service is anything we do for the customer that enhances the customer
experience” (Harris 2). Customer Service isn’t just a counter in a store or a 1-800 number you
call; it is a way in which you do your job. Internal & external customers, communicating, ways
to keep from creating challenging customers, customer retention, and methods of saying thank
you and motivating others are the main criteria that I took away from this class. By keeping in
mind the five criteria that stood out most to me, I will provide better customer experience to each
and every client I encounter in any work place I am involved in.

5. Works Cited
Walter, E. (2014, March). 40 Eye-Opening Customer Service Quotes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2014/03/04/40-eye-opening-customer-
service-quotes/#4fb618824dc8