When Does Customer Service Start and Stop

Recently a question was posed to me, “When does customer service start and stop?”

The question was focused on the customer transaction, which I like to call a customer interaction. However, I’m going to take a more philosophical approach to this question.

Customer service starts long before the customer ever walks through your door, calls your business, finds your website, etc. It starts with your vision and mission. It starts with the first person you hire or partner with. It starts as you create the culture of your organization. It starts as you begin to plan out what the customer experience should be. In other words, it starts long before the customer ever starts actually doing business with you.

It ends when the company ends. In between the start of a business and the close of a business there are interactions (with customers and employees), technology opportunities (social media), product/service developments – everything and anything that will affect the customer experience.

Shep Hyken is a professional speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling business author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For information on Shep’s speaking programs, books, and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com/ – For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).