Ans.A) A customer is the key stakeholder in every organisation. It’s the custome

Question

Ans.A) A customer is the key stakeholder in every organisation. It’s the customers who bring revenue in the company and keeps the business running. Therefore, it is the duty of every employee of the organisation to be responsible to their customers irrespective of the fact whether they are directly interacting with the customers or not. More than the monetary terms, it is the trust and belief of the customer that out of all the available alternatives in the market, he chose your organisation to perform his business.

In one of my previous position in a fast food restaurant chain as a store manager, all of us at the store had the attitude of treating the customer like king and rightly so, as there were so many other available options for a customer in our geographical area and he decided to put his hard earned money and time spending on our services. It was the moral responsibility of everyone in the store whether it was a kitchen employee or a front-desk manager to treat the customer in the best possible way and leave him with an amazing experience. Having customer friendly attitude is not only good for the organisation and the customer, but it enables worker as well to treat everyone with equality and respect someone’s time and money. In the long run, it helps all of us to become a better human being.

Ans.B) In a professional setting, the manner we are required to conduct ourselves is entirely different from a non-professional set up. As a professional, having more than 6 years of experience in the corporate industry, I have had the opportunity to interact with some of the most intellectual and helping colleagues across the organisations. One thing we have always shared as peers and sub-ordinates is to have empathy with one another and give each other positive and constructive feedback that would help us in becoming better in our jobs and conduct. One suggestion that I have constantly got from my colleagues is that I should improve in making eye-contact with the other person while communicating.

I have this habit where I subconsciously do not look in the other person’s eyes and choose to communicate without making an eye contact. Making an eye contact is one of the most important aspect of non-verbal communication. It makes you look confident and conveys your proposition in a more efficient manner. In professional setting, not making an eye contact can make you look rude or low in confidence. Everyone in the organisation whether its your managers, customers, sub-ordinates, or colleagues prefer you to maintain a good eye contact while communicating. This is one characteristic or trait of mine where I have always needed improvement and I am constantly working on being an effective communicator through my body language.

Ans.C) People working in public domain are required to directly interact with the customers on a day-to-day basis as a part of their job profiles. When dealing with customers, a service professional have to go through different kind of customer experiences as they get to meet different set of customers with unique problem set. There are happy and satisfied customers and unhappy and unsatisfied customers in every organisation. The customer service representatives must understand the fact that, they are representing the company through the positions assigned to them. If a customer is satisfied with the services, he will praise the “organisation” and when he is unsatisfied with the services he will rant against the “organisation”. In both the cases, service representatives must understand that customer is simply happy or unhappy with the value he has received or not received against the money and time he has invested with the organisation. And therefore, instead of taking them personally, employees should be empathetic with the customers.

In one of my previous work profile in a public sector bank, I was responsible for handling a team of sales representatives and help them in achieving their monthly sales targets. Being in the leading position, there were times when I had to myself deal with angry and unhappy customers who were not satisfied with the services of the bank. They used the language like “you guys are cheater” , “you people are frauds”, etc. Now, instead of taking them personally and taking the issue “home with you”, it is sensible to understand the points of concern of the customer and handle the situation empathetically.

Ans.D) As a customer service employee, you get to know the customers of the organisations very closely. You get the opportunity to understand what the immediate needs and wants of those customers are. What do they expect from the organisation and in what manner do they want to be treated. You also are in a position to take customer feedback and suggestions to the back end employees and be the voice of the customers in the organisation.

Having worked in the customer service profiles in retail field, in a fast food restaurant chain as a store manager and in a public sector bank as business development manager, I have the valuable experience of working and handling different types of customers. There are good and bad customers in every industry. Fortunately, there are more good ones than bad ones. In customer facing profiles, you get to meet new people everyday, you have the opportunity to make an impact in their lives in a positive way and in the process, you can make friends for lifetime. From both of my work roles in the restaurant and in the bank, I have customers who are now very good friends and with whom I connect and communicate frequently.

Explanation / Answer

Write a short answer (1 -2 paragraphs) responding to each of the following prompts

A. We discussed the idea of feeling that you have a responsibility to the customer is probably a good thing, regardless of how far from actual customer contact. Do you employ that idea in your current position? If not, can you understand how that type of attitude is not only good for the company and customer, but for the worker as well?

B. Take a critical look at yourself. When you consider the way you interact with others in a professional setting, do you detect any habit, traits, characteristics, etc., that you think you could improve upon? Assuming you do have areas in which you could improve yourself, please discuss them and your opportunities briefly.

C. We also looked at the disconnect someone who deals with the public must develop to guard against taking rants directed at them as a company representative personally. Do you have that ability not let unreasonable personal attacks “get to you”, or do you think you’d take that kind of issue “home with you”?

D. Finally, how likely would you consider a career in customer service to be for you? If you have experience in that field (retail, for example) please elaborate on that; otherwise, just give it your best guess. Experienced or not, please provide some rationale for your inclinations.

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