We are all customers

Customer service matters. We all have or will be on the giving or receiving end of customer service at some point in our daily lives or careers. By day, as a Human Resources professional administering benefits to a company with over 2,000 active employees, retirees and COBRA participants and their dependents, I choose to perform exceptional customer service for the following reasons:

• Benefits (Medical and Dental to be exact) are sensitive subjects for all, including me. No one wants to arrive at the doctor only to find that they're not covered. Respect what is important to the customer.



• I never know who is on the other end of the phone. Great customer service should be blind to status, title, gender, race, etc. One day I may talk to the mail guy and on another day it might be a former CEO, either way they would have received remarkable customer service.



• Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you. I recently had the worst experience with an airline whose name I will not mention. I have written a very detailed letter and have made numerous calls to their corporate customer service office and am awaiting a response. Its well-known that one tells more people of an unpleasant experience than a positive one. Don't put your reputation on the line - just think about your reaction to unacceptable customer service.

Check out the 2010 Customer Service Champs listed on BusinessWeek.com and see what they did to make the list. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/10/02/0218_customer_service_champs/index.htm