Customer service

A DMV clerk helps a customer with paperwork.

Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company through phone, online chat, mail, and e-mail to those who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service,[1] but towards the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that of increasing revenues. The perception of success of the customer service interactions is dependent on employees "who can adjust themselves to the personality of the customer".[2] Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm. Good quality customer service is usually measured through customer retention.

Customer service for some firms is part of the firm’s intangible assets and can differentiate it from others in the industry. One good customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer holds towards the organization.[3] It is expected that AI-based chatbots will significantly impact customer service and call centre roles and will increase productivity substantially.[4][5][6] Many organisations have already adopted AI chatbots to improve their customer service experience.[6][7][5]

The evolution in the service industry has identified the needs of consumers. Companies usually create policies or standards to guide their personnel to follow their particular service package. A service package is a combination of tangible and intangible characteristics a firm uses to take care of its clients.[8]

  1. ^ Lucas, Robert (2015). Customer Service Skills For Success. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-354546-2.
  2. ^ Buchanan, Leigh (1 March 2011). "A Customer Service Makeover". Inc. magazine. Retrieved 29 Oct 2012.
  3. ^ Teresa Swartz, Dawn Iacobucci. Handbook of Services Marketing and Management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
  4. ^ Adam, M., Wessel, M. & Benlian, A. AI-based chatbots in customer service and their effects on user compliance. Electron Markets 31, 427–445 (2021). doi:10.1007/s12525-020-00414-7
  5. ^ a b Krishnan, C., Gupta, A., Gupta, A., Singh, G. (2022). Impact of Artificial Intelligence-Based Chatbots on Customer Engagement and Business Growth. In: Hong, TP., Serrano-Estrada, L., Saxena, A., Biswas, A. (eds) Deep Learning for Social Media Data Analytics. Studies in Big Data, vol 113. Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10869-3_11
  6. ^ a b "AI-enabled customer service is now the quickest and most effective route for institutions to deliver personalized, proactive experiences that drive customer engagement". New York: McKinsey & Company. March 27, 2023.
  7. ^ Brandon Turpin (August 2, 2023). "How chatbots can provide a better customer experience". IBM.
  8. ^ Bordoloi, Sanjeev (2019). Service Management Operations, Strategy, Information Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-1-260-09242-4.

Developed by StudentB