Should we abandon the term “Customer Service Representative”?
If you are in the profession of providing a product or service to others, and
most of us are, isn’t what we do more aligned with the term “Customer Advocate”?
The general term customer service has been so over used and
it really is a passive term. There is a customer and there is service. But a
customer advocate suggests a commitment to advocate for the customer. It
implies action. The definition of an advocate: A person who publicly supports
or recommends a particular cause or policy. So if we preface it with service we
are now supporting and recommending the right course of action or right product,
and advocating for our customer on behalf of our company.
Words mean things. Customer service has been around since
the dawn of time and little has changed. Maybe customer service hasn’t changed
because we have been defining it with such a generic term? Maybe great customer
service is not achievable without customer advocates and we have overlooked
this aspect and focused on changing organizations instead of individuals?
I know when I am representing my organization I provide a
service and I advocate for great results in my interactions. I am responsible
for providing a great experience not my company. My company’s reputation for
service is built on each one of our customer interactions with every member of
our organization. The organization is just the wrapping around the individuals
that work for it.
We have been advocating for the customer forever and still
there is lousy service in some sectors. Maybe a new approach is needed that
focuses on empowering each of our team members to be a Service Advocate for our
customers…
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