Customer Service Pre-Test – Flashcards
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Customer Service
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The ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word of mouth publicity and return business
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Product
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Something produced or an output by individual or organization.
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Customer-Focused Organization
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A company that spends energy and effort on satisfying internal and external customers by first identifying customer needs, then establishing policies, procedures, and management and reward systems to support excellence in service delivery
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Customer Relationship Management
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Concept of identifying customer needs
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Service Sector
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Refers to organizations and individuals involved in delivering service as a primary product
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Cottage Industries
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The term adopted in the early days of customer service when many people started small businesses in their homes or cottages and bartered products or services with neighbors
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Service Economy
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A term used to describe the trend in which businesses have shifted from primarily production and manufacturing to more service delivery
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Telecommuting
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A trend seen in many congested metropolitan areas and government offices
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Downsizing
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Term applied to the situation in which employees are terminated or empty positions are left unfilled once someone leaves an organization
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Networking
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The active process of building relationships and sharing of resources
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Globalization
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The term applied to an ongoing trend of information, knowledge, and resource sharing around the world
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Business to Business
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Refers to a B2B customer service
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Offshoring
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Refers to the relocation of business services from one country to another.
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Outsourcing
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Refers to the proactive of contracting with third-party companies or vendors outside the organization to deliver products and services to customers or produce products
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Deregulation
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Occurs when governments remove legislative or regulatory guidelines that inhibit and control an industry
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North American Free Trade Agreement
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A trade agreement entered into by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to help, among other things, eliminate barriers to trade, promote conditions of fair trade across borders, increase investment opportunities, and promote and protect intellectual property rights
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E-Commerce
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An entire spectrum of companies that market products and services on the Internet and through other technology, and the process of accessing them by consumers
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Customer Satisfaction
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The feeling of a person whose needs have been met by an organization
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Customer Service Environment
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An environment made up of and influenced by various elements of an organization
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External Customers
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Those people outside the organization who purchase or lease products and services
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Internal Customers
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People within the organization who either require support and service or provide information, products, and services to service providers
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Organizational Culture
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Includes an element of an organization that a customer encounters
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Human Resources
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Refers to employees of an organization
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Deliverables
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Products or services provided by an organization
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Delivery System
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The methods used by an organization to provide services and products to its customers
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Learning Organizations
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A term used to describe organizations that value knowledge, education, and employee training
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Service Recovery
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The process of righting a wrong or correcting something that has gone wrong involving provision of a product or service to a customer
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Small Business Administration
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United States governmental agency established to assist small business owners
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Service culture
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A service environment made up of various factors, including the values, beliefs, norms, rituals and practices of a group or organization
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Attitudes
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Emotional responses to people, ideas, and objects
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Customer-Centric
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A term used to describe service providers and organizations that put their customers first and spend time, effort, and money identifying and focusing on the needs of current and potential customers
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Mission
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The direction or focus of an organization that supports day to day interactions with customers
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Service Philosophy
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The approach that an organization takes to providing service and addressing the needs of customers
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Service Philosophy
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The approach that an organization takes to providing service and addressing the needs of customers
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Employee roles
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Task assignments that service provides assume
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Employee Expectations
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Perceptions about positive and negative aspects of the workplace
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RUMBA
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An acronym for five criteria used to establish and measure employee performance
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Service Measurement
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Techniques used by organizations to determine how customers perceive the value of services and products received
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Mentors
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Individuals who dedicate time and effort to befriend and assist others
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Mentees
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Typically less experienced recipients of the efforts of mentors
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Empowerment
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The word used to describe the giving of decision-making and problem-resolution authority to lower-level employees in an organization
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Customer-Friendly Systems
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Refers to the processes in an organization that makes service seamless to customers by ensuring that things work properly and the customer is satisfied
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Service Delivery Systems
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The mechanisms or strategies used by an organization to provide serve to customers
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What Customers Want
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Things that customers typically desire but do not necessarily need
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Feel, Felt, Found Technique
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A process for expressing empathy and concern for someone and for helping that person understand that you can relate to the situation
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Two-Way Communication
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An active process in which two individuals apply all the elements of interpersonal communication in order to effectively exchange information and ideas
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Sender
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One of the two primary elements of a two-way conversation
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Receiver
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One of the two primary elements of a two way conversation
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Message
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A communication delivered through speech or signals, or in writing
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Channel
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Term used to describe the method through which people communicate messages
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Encoding
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The stage in the interpersonal communication process in which the sender decides what message will be sent and how it will be transmitted along with considerations about the receiver
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Decoding
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The stage in the interpersonal communication process in which messages received are analyzed by a received are analyzed by a receiver in an effort to determine the sender's intent
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Feedback
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The stage of the interpersonal communication process in which a receiver responds to a sender's message
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Filters
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Psychological barriers in the form of personal experiences, lessons learned, societal beliefs, and values through which people process and compare information received to determining its significance
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Noise
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Refers to physiological or psychological factors that interfere with the accurate reception of information
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Global Terms
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Potentially inflammatory words or phrases used in conversation
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"I" or "We" Messages
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Messages that are potentially less offensive than the word "you," which is like nonverbal finger-pointing when emotions are high
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Small Talk
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Dialogue used to enhance relationships, show civility, and build rapport
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Paraphrase
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The practice of a message receiver giving back in his or her own words what he believes a sender said
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Rapport
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The silent bond built between two people as a result of sharing of common interests and issues and demonstrations of a win-win, I care attitude
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Pet Peeves
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Refers to factors, people, or situations that personally irritate or frustrate a service provider and which, left unchecked, can create a breakdown in effective service
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Verbal Feedback
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The response given to a sender's message that allows both the sender and receiver to know that a message was received correctly
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Nonverbal Feedback
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Messages sent to someone through other than spoken means
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Assertiveness
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Involves projecting a presence that is assured confident, and capable without seeming to be aggressive or arrogant
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Conflict
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Involves incompatible or opposing views and can result when a customer's needs, desires, or demands do not match service provider or organizational polices, procedures, and abilities
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Nonverbal Messages
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Consist of such things as movements, gestures, body positions, vocal qualities, and a variety of unspoken signals sent by people, often in conjunction with verbal messages
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Body Language
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Nonverbal communication cues that send powerful messages through gestures, vocal qualities, manner of dress, grooming and many other cues
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Pupilometrics
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The study of pupil reaction to stimuli
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Posture
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Refers to how one sits or stands in order to project various non verbal messages
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Paralanguage
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Consists of voice qualities made as someone speaks, which let a speaker know that his or her message is being listened to and followed
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Vocal Cues
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Qualities of the voice that send powerful nonverbal messages
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Pitch
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Refers to the change in tone of the voice as one speaks
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Volume
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Refers to loudness or softness of the voice when speaking
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Rate of Speech
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Refers to the number of words spoken per minute
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Voice Quality
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Refers to the sound of one's voice
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Articulation, Enunciation, or Pronunciation
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Refers to the manner messages are delivered
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Pauses
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A verbal technique of delaying response in order to allow time to process information received, think of a response, or gain attention
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Interferences
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Noises that can interfere with messages being effectively communicated between two people
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Verbal Filters
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Verbal sounds, words, or utterances that break silence but add little to a conversation
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Silence
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Technique used to gain attention when speaking, to allow thought, or to process information received
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Semantics
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The scientific Study of relationships between signs, symbols, and words and their meaning
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Appearance and Grooming
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Nonverbal characteristics exhibited by service providers that can send a variety of messages that range from being a professional to having a negative attitude
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Hygiene
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The healthy maintenance of the body
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Proxemics
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Relates to the invisible barrier surrounding people in which they feel comfortable interacting with others
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Spatial Cues
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Nonverbal messages sent on the basis of how close or far someone stands from another person
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Environmental Cues
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Any aspect of the workplace with a customer comes into contact
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Miscellaneous Cues
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Refers to factors used to send messages that impact a customer's perception or feelings about a service provider of organization
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Time Allocation
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Amount of attention given to a person or project
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Etiquette and Manners
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Includes the acceptable rules, manners, and ceremonies for an organization, profession or society
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Emotional Messages of Color
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Research-based use of color to send nonverbal messages though advertisements and other elements of the organization
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Gender Communication
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Term used to refer to communication between genders
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Impact of Culture
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Refers to the outcome of people from various countries or backgrounds coming into contact one another and potentially experiencing misunderstandings or relationship breakdowns
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Clusters of Nonverbal Behavior
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Groupings of nonverbal behaviors that indicate a possible negative intent while other behaviors indicate positive message intent
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Perception Checking
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The process of clarifying a nonverbal cue that was received by stating what behavior was observed, giving one or two possible interpretations, then asking the message sender for clarification
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Listening
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An active, learned process consisting of four phases
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Hearing
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A passive physiological process of gathering sound waves and transmitting them to the brain for analysis
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Attending
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The phrase of the listening process in which a listening process in which a listener focuses attention on a specific sound or message being received from the environment
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Comprehending or Assigning Meaning
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The phase of the listening process in which the brain attempts to match a received sound or message with other information stored in the brain in order to recognize or extract meaning from it
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Memory
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The ability to gain, store, retain, and recall information in the brain for later application
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Recognition
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A process that occurs in thinking when a previously experienced pattern, event process, image, or object that is stored in memory is encountered again
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Responding
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Refers to sending back nonverbal messages to a message originator
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Personal Obstacles
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Factors that can limit performance or success in life
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Biases
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Beliefs or opinions that a person has about an individual group.
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Psychological Distracters
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Refers to mental factors that can cause a shift in focus in interacting with others
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Circadian Rhythm
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The physiological 24-hour cycle associated with the earth's rotation that affects metabolic and sleep patterns in humans as day displaces night
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Employee Assistance Program
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Benefit package offered to employees by many organization that provide services to help employees deal with personal problems that might adversely affect their work performance.
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Thought Speed
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The rate at which the human brain processes information
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Lag Time
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The term applied to the difference in the rate at which the human brain can receive and process information and as which most adults speak
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Listening Gap
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The difference in the speed at which the brain can comprehend communication and the speed at which the average adult speaks in the United States
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Faulty Assumptions
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Service provider projections made about underlying customer message meaning based on past experience
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External Obstacles
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Factors outside an organization or the sphere of one's influence that can cause challenges in delivering service
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Information Overload
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Refers to having too many messages coming together and causing confusion, frustration, or an inability to act
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Service Recovery
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The process of righting a wrong or correcting something that has gone wrong involving provision of a product or service to a customer
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Congruence
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In communication, this relates to ensuring that verbal messages sent match or are in agreement with the nonverbal cues used
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Open-End Questions
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Typically start with words like who, when, what, how, and why and are used to engages others in conversation or to gain input and ideas.
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Customer Needs
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Motivators or drivers that cause customers to seek out specific types of products or services
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Objections
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Reasons given by customers for not wanting to purchase a product or service during an interaction with a salesperson or service provider
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Closed-End Questions
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Inquiries that typically start with a verb and solicit short one-syllable answers and can be used for such purposes as clarifying, verifying information already given, controlling conversation, or affirming something
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Behavioral Styles
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Descriptive term that identifies categories of human behavior identified by behavioral researchers
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Primary Behavior Pattern
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Refers to a person's preferred style of dealing with others
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Rational Style
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One of four behavioral groups characterized by being quiet, reflective, task-forced, and systematic
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Inquisitive Style
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One of four behavioral groups, characterized by being introverted, task-focused, and detailed-oriented.
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Decisive Style
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One of the four behavior styles, characterized by a direct, no-nonsense approach to people and situations.
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Expressive Style
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One of four behavior groups characterized as being people-oriented, fun-loving, upbeat, and extroverted
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Problem Solving
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The system of identifying issues, determining alternatives for dealing with them, the selecting and monitoring a strategy for resolution
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Win-Win Situation
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An outcome to a disagreement in which both parties walk away feeling that they got what they wanted or needed
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Seamless Service
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Service which is done in a manner that seems effortless and natural to the customer
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Process Improvement
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Refers to the process of continually evaluating products and services to ensure that maximum effectiveness, efficiency, and potential are being obtained from them
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Perceptions
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How someone views an item, situation, or others
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Stereotype
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Generalization made about an individual or group and not based on reality
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Service Breakdown
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Situations when customers have expectations of a certain type or level of service that are not met by a service provider
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Wants
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Things that customers typically desire but to not necessarily need
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Needs
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Motivators or drivers that cause customers to seek out specific types of products or services
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Customer Expectations
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The perceptions that customers have when they contact an organization or service provider about the kind, level, and quality of products and services they should receive
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Difficult Customers
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People who challenge a service provider's ability to deliver service and who require special skills and patience
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Demanding or Domineering Customers
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Customers who have definite ideas about what they want and are unwilling to compromise or accept alternatives
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Indecisive Customers
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People who have difficulty making a decision or making a selection when given choices of products or services
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Dissatisfied Customer
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Someone who either does not receive promised products or services
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Angry Customers
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Customers who become emotional because either their needs are not met or they are dissatisfied with the services or products purchased from as organization
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Under-promise and over-deliver
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A service strategy in which service providers strive for excellent customer service and satisfaction by doing more than they say they will do for the customer expectations
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Rude or Inconsiderate Customers
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People who seem to take pleasure in being obstinate and contrary when dealing with service providers and who seem to have their own agenda without concern for the feelings of others
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Talkative Customers
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Customers exhibiting extroverted behavior who are very people-oriented
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Emotion-Reducing Model
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Process for reducing customer emotion in situations when frustration or anger exists
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Customer Defection
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Customers often take their business to competitors when they feel that their needs or wants are not met or if they encounter breakdown in customer service or poor quality products
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Strategies for Preventing Dissatisfaction
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Techniques used to prevent a breakdown in needs fulfillment when you are dealing with customers
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Problem-Solving Model
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The process used by a service provider to assist customers in determining and selecting appropriate solutions to their issues, concerns, or needs
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Service Options
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Alternatives offered by service providers when an original request by a customer cannot be honored because of such restrictions as governmental statutory regulations, nonavailability of products, or inability to perform as requested
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Prohibitions
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Local, state, or federal regulations that prevent a service provider from satisfying a customer's request even through the provider would normally do so
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Diversity
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The characteristics, values, beliefs, and factors that make people different, yet similar
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Cultural Diversity
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Refers to the differences and similarities attributed to various groups of people within a culture
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Platinum Rule
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Term coined by speaker and author Tony Alessandra related to going beyond the step of treating customers the way you want to be treated, to the next level of treating, to the next level of treating them the way they would like to be treated
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Values
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Long-term appraisals of the worth of an idea, person, place, thing or practice held by individuals, groups or cultures.
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Beliefs
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Perceptions or assumptions that individuals or cultures maintain.
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Modesty
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Refers to the way that cultures view propriety of dress and conduct
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Expectations of Privacy
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The belief that personal information provided to an organization will be safeguarded against inappropriate or unauthorized use or dissemination
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Form of Address
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Title used to address people
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Hispanic Culture
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Refers to people who were born in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, or Central or South America
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Chicano Culture
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Refers primarily to people with a heritage based in Mexico
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Latino Culture
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Refers to people of Hispanic descent
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Respect for Elders
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A value held by people from many cultures
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Interpersonal Relationship
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Focuses on the need for service providers to build strong bonds with customers
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Gender Roles
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Behaviors attributed to or assigned by societal norms
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Attitudes
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Emotional responses to people, ideas, and objects
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Individualistic Cultures
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Groups in which members value themselves as individuals who are separate from their group and responsible for their own destiny
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Collective Cultures
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Members of a group sharing common interests and values
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Conflict Resolutions Style
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The manner in which a person handles conflict
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Monochronic
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Refers to the perception of time as being a central focus with deadlines being a crucial element of societal norms
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Polychronic
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Refers to the perception of time as a fluid commodity that does not interfere with relationships and elements of happiness
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Concept of Time
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Term used to describe how certain societies view time as either polychromic of monochronic
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Ownership of Property
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Refers to how people of a given culture view property
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Foreign-Born People
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Refers to people not born in a given country
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Face
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Refers to the important concept of esteem in many Asian cultures
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Customers with Disabilities
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Descriptive phrase that refers to anyone with a physical or mental disability
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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
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A United States federal act signed into law in July of 1990 guaranteeing people with disabilities equal access to workplace and public opportunities
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Hearing Disabilities
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Conditions in which the ability to hear is diminished below established auditory standards
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Telecommunications Relay Service
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Through such services, specially trained operators act as intermediaries between people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech disabled, or deaf and blind and standard telephone users
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Telecommunications Device for the Deaf or Telephone Typewriter
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A typewriter-type device used by people with hearing disabilities for typing messages back and forth via telephone lines
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Vision Disabilities
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Condition resulting from lost visual acuity or disability
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Mobility or motion impairments
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Physical limitations that some people have, requiring accommodation or special consideration to allow access to products or services
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Baby Boomer
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A term applied to anyone born between 1946 and 1964
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Younger Customers
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Subjective term referring to anyone younger than the service provider
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Wiki
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A form of server software that allows nontechnical personnel to create and edit web site pages using any Web browser and without complex programing knowledge
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Blogs
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Online journals from customers and Web site visitors
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Podcasts
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A word that is a derivative of Apple computers iPod media player and the term broadcasting
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Inclusive
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The concept of ensuring that people of all races, genders, and religious and ethnic backgrounds, as well as a multitude of other diverse factors, are included in communications and activities in the workplace
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Offshoring
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Refers to the relocation of business services from one country to another
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Outsourcing
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Refers to the practice of contracting with third party companies or vendors outside the organization to deliver products and services to customers or produce products.
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Help Desk
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Term used to describe a service provider trained and assigned to assist customers with questions, problems, or sugguestions
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Automated Attendants
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Provide callers with a menu of options from which they can select by pressing a key on their telephone pad
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Automatic call distribution system
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Telecommunications system used by many companies in their call centers and customer care facilities to capture incoming calls and route them to available service providers
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Automatic Number Identification System
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A form of caller identification system similar to home telephone caller ID systems.
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Computer Telephony Integration
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A system that integrates a representative's computer and phone to facilitate the automatic retrieval of customer records and other information needed to satisfy a customer's needs and requests
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Electronic Mail
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System used to transmit message around the internet
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Spamming or Spam
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An abusive use of various electronic messaging systems and technology to send unsolicited and indiscriminate bulk messages to people.
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Facsimile Machine
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Equipment that converts printed words and graphics into electronic signals and allows them to be transmitted across telephone lines then reassembled into a facsimile of the words and graphics on te receiving end
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Fax-on-Demand
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Technology that allows information, such as a form, stored in a computer to be requested electronically via a telephone and transmitted to a customer
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Internet Callback
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Technology that allows someone browsing the internet to key a prompt on a Web site and have a service representative call a phone number provided
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Internet Telephony
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Technology that allows people to talk to one another via the Internet as if they were on a regular telephone
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Interactive Voice Response System
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Technology that allows customers to call an organization 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get information from recorded messages or a computer by keying a series of numbers on the telephone keypad in response to questions or prompts
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Voice Response Unit
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System that allows customers to call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by keying a series of numbers on the telephone keypad in order to get information or answers to questions
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Media Blending
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Technology that allows a service provider to communicate with a customer via telephone while at the same time displaying information to the customer over the computer
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Online Information Fulfillment System
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Technology that allows a customer to access an organization's Web site and click on desired information without having to interact with a service provider
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Predictive Dialing System
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Technology that automatically places outgoing calls and delivers incoming calls to the next available service representative in a call center
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Screen Pop-Ups
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Small screen images that are programmed to appear on someone's computer monitor when a Web site is accessed
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Telephone Typewriter System
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A typewriter like device used by people with hearing disabilities for typing messages back and forth via telephone lines.
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Telecommuting
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A trend seen in many congested metropolitan areas and government offices
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Emoticons
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Humorous characters that send visual messages such as smiling or frowning
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Blind Transfer
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The practice of transferring and incoming caller to another telephone number
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Customer Loyalty
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Term used to describe the tendency of customers to return to a product or organization regularly because of the service and satisfaction they receive
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Trust
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Key element in cementing interpersonal relationships
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Touch Point
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Any instance in which a service provider or organization comes in contact with a customer
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Customer Relationships
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The practice of building and maintaining ongoing friendships with customers in an effort to make them feel comfortable with an organization and its service providers and to enhance customer loyalty
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Customer Relationship Management
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Concept of identifying customer needs
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Customer Retention
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The ongoing effort by an organization to meet customer needs and desires in an effort to build long-term relationships and keep them for life
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Technical Assistance Research Program Worldwide
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An Arlington, Virgina, based firm specializing in customer service research studies for call centers and many other industries
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Cost of Dissatisfied Customer
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Phrase that refers to any formula used to calculate the cost of acquiring a new customer or replacing a current one as a result of having a dissatisfied customer leave an organization
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Channel Partner
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Relationship of two organizations in which they are able to build a larger and stronger competitive presence in the marketplace
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Code of Ethics
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A set of standards, often developed by employees, which guide the conduct of all employees
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Contingency Plans
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Backup systems or procedures that are implemented when regular ones break down or fail to function as intended
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Planning Process Model
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Five-step process for creating contingency or backup plans to better serve customers when problems arise or things do not go as expected
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Churn
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The process of a customer switching between products or companies, often simply to get a better price, rebate, or warranty
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Moment of Truth
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A phrase popularized by Scandinavian Airlines System President Jan Carlzon in his popular 1987 book of the same name
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Contact Points
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Instances in which a customer connects with a service provider or some other aspect of an organization
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Relationship-Rating Points
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Values mentally assigned by customers to a service provider and his or her organization
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Relationship-Rating Point Scale
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The mental rating system that customers apply to service and service providers
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Total Quality Management and Continuous Quality Improvement
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A systematic approach to identifying and quantifying best practices in an organization and/or industry in order to make improvements in effectiveness and efficiency
