The Periodic Table of Customer Service Elements

Service participants

Customer — also known as visitor, guest, client or patient.

Service agent — an employee who services the customer.

Business — the place where customer service occurs.

Repeat customer — the results of good customer service: a customer who comes back to you.

Characteristics of customer service

Flexibility — always strive to meet your customers at least half-way.

Attentiveness — attention to details shows that you care about your customer's needs.

Extra mile — paradoxically as it may sound, customers always expect you to do something unexpected for them.

Personalization — every customer wants the service to be customer-tailored to them.

Patience — customers are only human, so flex your patience muscles.

Communication — communication is more than just talking; it's also listening.

Self-service — nowadays, customers prefer to have control over how they are serviced.

Timeliness — honoring your deadlines and responding fast is what separates us from animals.

Responsiveness — speaking of responding, be sure to always answer.

Understanding — put yourself in your customer's shoes and look at things from their perspective.

Respect — treat your customer as an individual.

Positive language — know how to persuade, encourage or calm down, depending on the situation.

Customer service metrics

NPS — Net Promoter Score: a satisfaction metric, scored 1 to 10. Detractors are customers with the score below 7; promoters are customers who scored you 9 or higher.

CSAT — Customer Satisfaction: a graded satisfaction metric where customers answer the question of "How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the service?"

CES — Customer Effort Score: measures how much effort a customer needs to get their issue resolved, on a scale of 1 (a lot) to 7 (little).

Wait time — the amount of time a customer spends waiting to get serviced.

Service time — the amount of time needed to resolve a customer's issue (i.e. provide service).

Benefits of customer service

Loyalty — customers spend more time at your business and try out different options.

Retention — customers come and go, but excellent customer service might persuade them to stay.

Profitability — good service providers get higher sales and more repeat purchases.

Satisfaction — customers know who to go to if they want their issues to be resolved.

Motivation — good service boosts the morale of your employees, too.

Word-of-mouth — customers are more likely to spread the word about your business.

Brand image — the reputation of your business will soar as a result of good customer service.

Elements of customer interaction

Ask — start a conversation.

Listen — understand the problem.

Empathize — show that you care and are willing to help.

Resolve — put the frown upside down.