"Going the extra distance" - research paper -- and customer service

Please help me, this essay is driving me nuts. I am trying to fill 6 pages and only at four. what do I fill it with? is word choice good? what other aspects of customer service can I had to the training? thanks

Going the extra distance

The goal of every business is to be successful. Prosperity is needed in order for a business to flourish and grow and one of the ways to acquire success in business is customer service. There are varying degrees of customer service from very poor to the exceptional and while many people are capable of providing some level of customer service not everyone knows how to effectively provide this vital part of the thriving business puzzle. Gaining loyal customers retention, and increased market share is vital to any business. Businesses should provide an educational stand point to inform their employees on how to give and receive great customer service along with being able to deal with conflict resolution properly.

What is customer service? Defined by Wikipedia dictionary, "Customer Service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction- that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation."(Wikepedia)

There are endless benefits to providing superior customer service that also present a positive viewpoint in society. But what happens when business employees provide an unpleasant experience? In very large companies, a single employee who is lacking training might have a disadvantageous effect on the overall performance of a business. In a small company though, four or more people that lack the knowledge stand for 25 percent of the workforce, and has the potential to harm a significant amount of business.

Ever walk into a store and not receive acknowledgement from an employee? What about looking around a store trying to find the right product and asking for help but there is no employee who knows where it is located? If they do know where the product is located but, the person does not have the knowledge and cannot answer any questions, the customer may become frustrated? What about employees annoyed by the fact that a customer inconvenienced them by asking a question? The employee may dismiss the customer, never having acknowledged the buyer. The patron, having been passed over by the worker will probably not return to do business.

These are all examples of inferior customer service. A statistic from Moran Consulting Inc. suggests that 69 percent of customers do not return to a business because of unsatisfactory customer service (Moran Consulting, Inc.). Many customers do not get the attention, time and, follow through that they would expect when receiving customer service. "It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident" Art Waller stated (Homer).

So how do we change bad customer service for the better? We train! As written by Michael McDermott, in 2007 alone, businesses large and small spent more than $58 billion for customer service training. On average about $1,202 was spent per employee. Seminars commonly range from $20-$50 per trainee. There are many three day off site programs that range from $1800- $2000. Onsite one day training may start at a minimal $250. For extensive ongoing training that include materials, in person training and coaching it could cost a company between $10,000 and $30,000, depending on the extent of programming. Training is an essential aspect of customer service and it is critical to any business because the employees are the face of a business. Many techniques are implemented and here are a few that are the most essential.

Projecting a positive attitude and making a great first impression. An upbeat attitude comes from how the employees are treated at work, not only by their employer but by the customers they serve. Creating a comfortable, trusting atmosphere will make a lasting, positive, and enjoyable impression to those people who visit the establishment.

Internal customers must have a matching commitment to an overall focus in a company. Departments, management, vendors, and consultants all need to be a part of the focus. Customer service starts within the organization itself. Making sure products, service and information are available at all times to make certain that everyone is able to do their job correctly and efficiently. Quality, teamwork, morale, communication, and responsiveness really depend on the business owner. External customers appreciate it when all aspects are met and are in working order.

As stated by Art Waller, "Never, never, never ignore a customer" (Homer). By greeting a customer using verbal or non-verbal cues within the first 30 seconds the patron enters the establishment, communicates to the shopper that they are acknowledged. Being enthusiastic, courteous, and attentive while having good listening skills allows the consumer to feel that their needs will be met.

Customers will do more business with workers that they like. Establishing rapport and making an affirmative connection will gain approval toward the employee. Asking open ended questions, making eye contact, distinguishing common ground, and calling a customer by their name are all innate gestures to get the customer to participate in the transaction. It also makes the customer feel valued and enthusiastically satisfied. Customers talk and are a great resource for free advertising.

A typical business hears from only four percent of disgruntled customers. The others 96 percent walk away quietly, in spite of this, 68 percent of those customers do not disclose their dissatisfaction because they thought the employee had lack of concern for their needs. If an unhappy consumer cannot convey their distress, they will communicate their unhappiness to other sources such as friends, family, and neighbors. The average consumer will tell eight to ten people about their issue. One in five will tell 20 people. If an issue is resolved on the spot, 95 percent of shoppers will do business again. The ability to solve conflict and finding a resolution to any problem that a customer may have, will help create a strong customer base and expand earning potential. Businesses can then ensure that when they are talked about, it is in a positive perspective.

For customer service training to be effective it must be offered in ways to accommodate the learning styles of all employees to guarantee equal training. Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic are three particular learning styles that most people use in today's diverse delivery methods.

Visual Learners use images and displays such as diagrams, illustrated materials, and videos to enhance the effect of learning. They also need to see firsthand the trainer's body language and facial expressions to get the most out of training and implant it in their brain.

Auditory Learners rely on the tone of a person's voice. The pitch, speed and other such indications are used by the auditory learner to search out the primary meaning of words that are spoken. They enjoy talking through issues and listen to what others have to say.

Kinesthetic learners benefit the best from the use of the hands- on approach. They need the opportunity to keenly explore, through touch, the physical aspect of doing a task. It is usually difficult for them to sit for long periods of time. The learning experience is best understood by the kinesthetic learner if they perform the task themselves. Information is processed and makes more sense to them when they can carry out the assignment given. Sometimes, a short attention span leads them to be easily distracted.

Giving information in as many ways as possible heeds to all those that are involved. It makes the learner be in responsible of his or her own learning. In this new- aged world, technology provides many of these outlets and helps in many cases. Trying to find a trainer that knows how to present material in all three learning styles may be difficult, but learning has to match the audience and situation.

With customer service training completed, make sure to implement and practice training to gain experience. Training is all too often imprudent rather than practical. Many companies will see a revenue increase by 25-90 percent and profitability up to 75 percent. Customers that are well served by trained employees buy more per year, buy higher-priced options, and buy more often. Satisfied customers are fewer price sensitive, are less costly to serve, and have a higher lifetime value.

Thus, when a business provides educational customer service training, it allows the customers to take pleasure in the product served and affords their employees to harvest the benefits of satisfying customers. It must continue to be an ongoing attempt at every business. Things constantly change and people need to be efficient at all times.

There are a few grammar errors, but I can come back to those after you rewrite.

Here are a few ideas for expanding on the concept of customer service:

*Improve employee morale. Happy employees provide better customer service. Show employees that they are appreciated at work and allow them to have a little bit of fun.

*Anticipate customers' needs. A customer shouldn't have to spend fifteen minutes tracking down an employee to have the game case at Target opened, they shouldn't have to ask for toilet paper for the bathroom, they should never be left standing at a register waiting for someone to notice that they are there.

*Keep a clean business. There were wet spots from raw meat on a grocery conveyor belt and the cashier wanted me to plunk my purchases down onto the offal. No thank you. I haven't been back. This can also extend to personal hygiene and clean clothing/uniforms.

*Educate the customer (when appropriate). When the customer asks an employee questions related to the business, the employee should be able to provide intelligent answers. If I walk into Guitar Center and ask an employee, "What is the difference between the Edge Pro and Edge Zero tremolo systems on the Ibanez?" He had better know-or hand me off to someone who does-or I won't be buying a guitar that day and I probably won't be buying one from that store at all.

*Go the extra distance. Staying with the guitar analogy . . . my brother buys all of his guitars from the same little shop because they will throw extras in for him. It might be a $20 cord or a dozen picks. Considering that the markup on instruments in about 50%, there is still a healthy profit to be made. They will also help him learn about guitars. For example, they helped him to change the strings for the first time on a guitar with locking tuners (a more complex procedure than with regular guitar strings).

*The owner of that little guitar shop knows my brother even though he only sees him every six months or so. He knows what guitars he's bought before and what kind of music he likes to play.

*Use the polite words . . . please, thank you , and you're welcome.

Just a couple notes on the writing . . . you ask a lot of questions of your reader. Try to rephrase these so that the reader doesn't feel like they are being quizzed. Instead of "What happens when business employees provide and unpleasant experience?", you could simply say, "When business employees provide and unpleasant experience . . .

I am not crazy about the Wiki definition. Wikipedia is taboo as a source in many academic settings. Besides, I'd rather hear how you define customer service.

You talk a lot about the effects of bad customer service, but there isn't a lot of information on what constitutes good customer service.


The way I read it, this is your thesis statement. Expand on it. How do businesses educate their employees? How do employees give and receive great customer service (do they really receive it?)? And how do they deal with conflict resolution properly?

I agree with Notoman, your prof probably will downgrade you if you use Wikipedia as the source of your definition. Find a more credible source.

Speaking of which, one way to add substance and elaboration to an essay is to do a little more research. If you can find even one more book, chapter, article, or credible website to cite, you will probably find more than enough information to fill up the requisite pages.

Quotes from your sources -- if used sparingly -- can also add substance and elaboration. Don't go crazy with this, as teachers get cranky when they can see that a student has used long quotations to fill up space. I'm not saying to do that! But it can be very useful to quote one or two especially well-worded sentences from each of your sources.

Most body paragraphs should contain at least one quotation, possibly two or three, depending upon their length. This is true of most academic papers, and doubly so of research papers, as the quotations from your research should form the foundation of everything you are writing. That said, you need to fully integrate and explicate each quotation, making sure it serves your purpose rather than simply taking up space.

I'll play the contrarian, though, when it comes to wikipedia -- unless your prof has specifically forbidden it, there is no reason not to use it. It has been shown to be roughly as accurate as any print encyclopedia, and covers far more topics, especially recent events, in far more detail. The strongest case against using wikipedia tends to be that encyclopedias of any sort are generally too shallow to make good research sources, but for a simple definition, this doesn't really apply.

I'd break this into two sentences for better readability. There are varying degrees of customer service from very poor to the exceptional. While many people are capable of providing some level of customer service, not everyone knows how to effectively provide this vital part of the thriving business puzzle.


Gaining and retaining loyal customers is vital to increasing the market share in any business.


I am not sure what an "educational stand point" is. I also don't think that employees "receive" customer service. I'd simplify and reword this . . . Businesses should educate their employees on customer service expectations.


What does this mean?


The numbers are awkward here. Four people comprise 25% of the workforce in a company that employs 16 people. If that same company only employs 12 people, then four people comprise a third of the workforce. See what I mean. You can still say that a few bad apples have a more significant effect on a smaller company without stating numbers that don't add up. People . . . have . . . watch your verb agreement.


This is more of a statement than a question. You ask a lot of questions. Instead of engaging the reader in a dialoguetell them about he subject. You are the one who researched it and you are the expert.


Your comma is in the wrong place here. Put it after the word "time."


I would standardize the use off "offsite" and "onsite" here. For consistency, I'd use both of them as two words. When you have two adjectives before the noun or when two words don't make sense without each other, they are usually hyphenated. Off-site training. On-site training. Your structure is a little more complicated though . . . three-day, off-site programs.


. . . cost $250 and up.

For extensive, ongoing training that includes materials, in- person training, and coaching,it could cost a company should expect to spend between $10,000 and $30,000, depending on the extent of programming.


This doesn't work very well as a transition. You make it sound like there is a list to come, but it isn't really a list.

I am going to quit for now. I hope that this gives you a start on revisions.

I agree that Wikipedia is getting better all the time. Their reputation from the early days is fixed in a lot of minds though-especially in the minds of high school teachers and community college professors who have seen the service abused to the detriment of other resources (I can't venture to guess how profs at Rice, Penn, or even Colorado State University view Wikipedia as I lack all experience in that regard).

I like Wikipedia. I like it a lot. It provides a concise summary and a jumping-off place for further research. Original sources are often a click away in the links/citations. Wikipedia is a valuable tool, but it is risky to use it as a citation source. Just because a prof hasn't specially forbidden it, doesn't mean that s/he harbors no ill will toward it. Few academics have strong feelings about Webster and Britannica making them safer choices.

Along the same lines . . . I use Gradesaver often. Their summaries and character analysis help me to better understand important points in novels that might otherwise go over my head (The Scarlett Letter comes to mind). I have even read Gradesaver instead of finishing the assigned book (Ethan Frome-blech. I didn't like that book). Gradesaver and Cliffnotes are valuable resources for students, but I wouldn't cite them as sources in a paper.

The problem with Gradesaver and Cliffnotes is that, as you admit, they tend to be read as substitutes for the book. I suspect there is nothing in them that a student couldn't come up with himself by reading the text carefully. At the very least, students should be able to make the points summarized in Cliffnotes in their own words, using quotations from the texts, and so not need to cite those sources. I agree that Wikipedia has some reputation issues, and I certainly wouldn't recommend using it as the main source for a paper. But in this case, it has been quoted once, to provide a definition no one would actually disagree with. At most the prof might make a note on the paper advising against use of Wikipedia in the future -- I doubt it would lose the student marks, though.

Many college profs do mark down for use of Wikipedia, because its inadmissibility as a credible reference is generally covered in Comp 101 and in those "how to use the library" courses many first year students are required to take. Why inadmissible? Because, while it is a wonderful starting point for your research, and you certainly can access and cite any of the credible sources cited by articles, anyone can edit any entry at any time. Thus, it is always possible that some fool or hacker accidentally or deliberately introduced a falsehood moments before you accessed the page. While most falsehoods are caught and corrected relatively quickly, errors can and do sit on pages for weeks on end. (I've found and fixed many myself.)

Obviously if a professor has told the student not to use wikipedia, or if the university itself has labeled it inadmissible, then the student should not use it. However, many professors also use wikipedia themselves, and realize that it is no more likely to contain errors than any comparable, admissible print source. As with any source, the person using it must critically evaluate what it says, and compare it with other sources to determine its accuracy. I suspect that wikipedia will always fall into a "love it or hate it" area, though, with some profs absolutely hating it and others not much minding or even approving of it.

I hear you, but I'd still err on the side of caution and avoid citing Wikipedia in an academic paper unless the prof has specifically said it's okay to do so. Otherwise, use Wikipedia for background information and to point you to credible sources, but do not cite it. Because, let's face it, you might not have been in class or may have been staring out the window when the prof said, as so many do, "don't use Wikipedia." Why take the risk, when there are so many other sources out there?

I agree with you -- I just dislike the prejudice against wikipedia, that's all, and wouldn't avoid citing it myself if it happened to contain information I wanted to use. In fact, I might cite it just to prove a point. But grabbing a definition from a dictionary would be the safest course of action, and is easy to do, as so many of them are online nowadays anyway.