And overview of customer service and customer worker relations.

1. Best Practices Part One

2. Many providers lack the top ten most valued skills needed
to achieve successful customer service. By offering
concrete information about service techniques, including
suggestions for how to deal with unhappy customers, as
well as the significance of verbal and non-verbal
communication, this PowerPoint overview will teach you
the importance of quality customer service for both
internal and external customers. Blending interactive
exercises and practical scenarios will further guide you to
the true meaning of customer service and how to
implement it with your own customers.

3. Using best practices in customer service is everyone’s responsibility.
We are all customers as well as service providers. Each person should
recognize her/his own important role when interacting with
customers so as to achieve and promote quality relations.
How can we give that added value or quality to a customer?
 Each time you interact with customers, you should treat them with
honesty and respect. This
 should be done regardless of age, color, race, gender, ethnicity, religion,
social class, sexual
 orientation, or political affiliation.
 Keep in mind that any one of you might be the only contact that a
customer has with your
 services. Customers will judge the way you interact and perform. This
will be an indicator of the
 quality in your health care system’s overall performance

4. Most often, it is the execution of small things that makes a
customer feel special and important, such as:
 Being greeted with a smile.
 Showing enthusiasm when you are meeting her/him.
 Maintaining eye contact and genuinely listening to
her/him.
 Checking from time to time that everything is okay while
they are still waiting for her/his
 turn.
 Remembering that your body language creates an open
and positive approach.

5. Here are the top ten most valued customer service skills:
1. Whether face-to-face or on the telephone, each situation should
end on a positive note.
2. Develop a standard "business friendly" personality within your
organization.
3. Value each interaction individually. Modify vocal tones, body
language, and expression to reflect each customer’s unique
personality.
4. Place the customer first, with full focus on the task at hand. Don’t
allow paperwork to interfere with a customer interaction.
5. Speak in "layman’s" terms. Convey information without using
technical or industry jargon.

6. 6. Listen effectively to the customer. Not only listen to what is
being said, but the manner in which it’s stated and delivered.
7. Use questioning and restating techniques. Questioning often
reveals the answer and
solutions may often be cultivated from the information that is
provided by the customer.
8. Learn to leave stressful situations behind. Separate the present
from the past and place the emotions of a stressful interaction
away.
9. Build rapport with every customer. The establishment of long-
term partnerships is often accomplished through the very first
interaction, so that first contact should be upbeat and positive.
10. Communicate clearly. Be sure you know your company's
policies, procedures, and services to avoid any complications or
dissatisfaction.

7. 1. Redefine your idea of customer service.
2. Know who your customers are.
3. Develop customer-friendly service techniques.

8. Redefine Your Definition of Customer Service
How you define customer service shapes every
interaction you have with your customers. A
customer should walk away pleased—not just
content, but actually happy—from every interaction.
A happy customer will be a returning customer. Of
course you want to give customers want they want,
but this is not always possible. If you define customer
service only as giving customers exactly what they
want, then you have missed another key aspect of
service: helping the customer to decide what s/he
wants.

9.  External Customers
External customers are
people who come into the
organization from the
outside. They may
include consumers, visitors,
and families. They might
also include outside
companies, delivery
people, and other
community members or
organizations.
 Internal Customers
It may seem strange to think
of fellow staff members as
customers. Your internal
customers may include
physicians, professionals,
employees of other
departments, and other
staff members. These
customers are the people
that you provide service to
within your organization.

10.  The one thing all companies or organizations that
provide good service have in common is the
development of a customer-first attitude in
promoting customer friendly service.
 By “customer-first” we mean viewing the customer as
the most important part of your job. The cliché, “The
customer is always right” is derived from this
customer friendly environment.

11. 1. Communications
2. Relationships
 The two main tasks of successful customer relations
is to communicate and develop relationships. They
don’t take a huge effort, but don’t happen
instantaneously either.
 Positive communication with your customers and
developing ongoing relationships with your
customers are perhaps the two most important
qualities to strive for in customer service.

12. Think about places where you enjoy doing business:
 Restaurants
 Stores
 Banks
Why do you like doing business with them? You
probably find their staff courteous, timely, friendly,
flexible, and interested. They not only satisfy your
needs, but make you feel positive and satisfied. You
come to rely on their level of service to meet your
wants and needs.

13. In dealing with consumers and families, maintaining
good customer relations is also important
 because:
Consumers have a choice.
Consumers have a choice about where they go for
different services. If customer service is not good and
people don’t feel that an organization cares about
them, they may take their business somewhere else.

14. Consumers want high quality care.
When consumers go to a healthcare provider to seek
treatment, they become dependent on someone else.
People must trust this other person to tell them what is
wrong with them, and how they will be treated.
Consumers experience a real lack of empowerment. They
feel that they are not in control of what is happening to
them.
Consumers may have questions about what is happening,
what will be done, and how long it will take. A vital
component of customer service is to answer every
question and give people the confidence that your facility
will provide the quality of care they want.

15.  Enthusiasm – basic friendliness is the most
important professional quality you can possess.
 Confidence – the customer needs to know that you
are competent and are able to meet her/his
wants and needs.
 Fairness – the customer wants to feel s/he is
receiving adequate attention and reasonable
answers.
 Flexibility – most customers want choice and
alternatives. They want to know there are many
avenues to satisfy them.

16.  Once adequate self-evaluation has been conducted
and you know where you stand in terms of customer
service, you can organize a service improvement
strategy catering to your service needs.