Chapter 4 & 5

Chapter Four and Five
Use the Telephone and the
Net Toward Good Customer
Service

Customer Service, 5e
Paul R. Timm 2
© 2011, 2008, 2005, 2001 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Is the phone outdated and replaced by
email?
Your book has an anonymous quote:
‘If e-mail had been around before the telephone
was invented, people would have said, “Hey,
forget e-mail—with this new telephone
invention I can actually talk to people”’
Do you agree?

Paul R. Timm 3
Know the benefits and drawbacks
of good telephone communication
 Learn the basics of telephone courtesy
 Callers can’t rely on non-verbal
communication cues (Exceptions are Apple
Facetime, Google Hangout or Skype)

Paul R. Timm 4
Understanding our own attitudes about
telephone use and courtesy can help us
improve our effectiveness in dealing with
customers via electronic media, especially
the telephone
Think it through…..

Paul R. Timm 5
Learn how customers see your
company- call yourself!
 Contact another company via telephone to see
how they do
 Avoid unnecessary call screening i.e. “May I
ask who is calling?”

Paul R. Timm 6
Action tips for courteous telephone use
 Answer/return calls promptly
 Use tact and skill
 Use courtesy titles (Mr. or Ms.)
 Make sure the conversation is over before you end
the call
 Thank the caller
 Let folks know on your voicemail if you are out and
who they can contact for immediate help

Paul R. Timm 7
Action tips for courteous telephone use
 Speak clearly, distinctly, naturally and comfortably
 Avoid “dead air”
 Keep a constant flow of information
 Keep the caller on track and re-focusing

Paul R. Timm 8
Action tips for efficient telephone use
 Ask if you have called at a convenient time
 Take messages when you can’t solve the
problem immediately
 Have a clear, efficient greeting

Paul R. Timm 9
Action tips for efficient telephone use
 Get to know and use all the telephone
features
 Plan outgoing calls before you call
 Don’t let a telephone call interrupt a live
conversation

Paul R. Timm 10
Call centers
 Call centers can be economical
 They can enhance a company’s reputation
 Call center responders must have solid
communication skills
 They must be highly responsive
 They must provide excellent customer
contacts

Paul R. Timm 11
REMEMBER-
Whether a company uses a call center or staff
to answer telephones, positive attitudes and
winning techniques can build stronger
relationships with customers and other people
important to the organization

Paul R. Timm 12
The Internet is a new avenue for businesses
to deliver customer service
 Provides increased exposure and sales after
hours, 24/7
 Provides decreased mass marketing costs
 Provides opportunities for better customer
service and clear communication

Paul R. Timm 13
 The Web is a “perfect” sales channel AND is
an excellent channel for pre-sale and post-
sale customer support
 Customers have come to assume a Web site
for virtually any business

Paul R. Timm 14
Customers can use online knowledge bases to
answer their own questions
FAQ’s
Email responses, searchable by keyword
Customer service postings, searchable by keyword
Self-learning knowledge databases, searchable with
multi-word searches

Paul R. Timm 15
 Web chat allows customers and service
representatives to carry on two-way conversations.
 Blogs can serve the same function—real time
conversations or a documenting of history
 Remember 80/20 rule: the 20% who are reading
blogs influence the other 80%
 One third of US ‘Net users read online forums

Paul R. Timm 16
Web self-service has significant cost
advantages over traditional service channels
 Employing only one person to maintain a website
 Allowing full-time staff to in between the bricks
and mortar service they provide

Paul R. Timm 17
Norms of ‘Net Geners
 Customization-tools and templates
 Security-https
 Integrity
 Collaboration- freeware
 Entertainment-youtube
 Innovation-always changing

Paul R. Timm 18
Successful e-service delivery requirements:
 Website uptime: have redundant servers
 Navigation ease: one click access
 Response speed: less than 2-3 seconds to refresh a
page
 Communication alternatives (email, phone)
 Form & function. Appropriate site design,
accessibility

Paul R. Timm 19
Successful e-service delivery requirements:
 Benchmarking
 Traffic monitoring
 Adaptive knowledge bases

Paul R. Timm 20
Few companies today can survive without
an electronic presence, and today’s Web-
mediated customer service offers a low-cost
approach for run-of-the-mill customer
transactions.
Take the opportunity to surprise customers
with exceptional e-service.

Chapter 4 & 5

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