Customer service conversation questions

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Customer service can mean different things, but often it refers to the way in which companies deal with their customers' problems.

Customer service

• What springs to your mind when you hear the words customer service?
• How would you describe the quality of customer service in your country?
• If you have a complaint about a company how is it usually received in your country?
• When you are using a company's customer service what do you expect from them? e.g. to be knowledgeable, courteous, responsive and timely or attentive.
• What attitudes do you think people have to those who make complaints in your country? Are they regarded as: Sincere people who need assistance; people who help make companies better; people who simply like to cause trouble; people who are simply wasting their own and other people's time?
• Which businesses do you think have the worst customer service?
• How do you react to automated call handling systems - the ones which ask you to press certain buttons in order to be put through to the people you want to speak to.
• Is the customer always right?
• What are some tips for providing good customer service?
• Does a higher customer satisfaction influence sales?
• What do you think is the most important quality for a customer service representative to have? Why?
• How do you think face-to-face customer service is different from over-the-phone customer service? Are there certain skills needed for face-to-face customer service that are not needed for over-the-phone customer service?
• When do you think it’s necessary to give something for free to make up for bad customer service?
• Do you think working in customer service is a difficult job? Why or why not? Have you ever worked in customer service? What was it like?

Your rights

• How aware are you of your rights as a consumer?
• What are your rights in your country if:
  • A product doesn't work in the first year of purchase?
  • In the second year of purchase?
• Who is responsible for replacing or repairing a faulty product - the manufacturer or the seller?
• If you are unable to obtain satisfaction by talking to the company is there any official state body which can help you out? How well does it work?
• How many times have you had to make a claim on a guarantee? How responsive was the company in each case?
• How often have you had to make a complaint about a product? What results have you obtained?

How to complain

• Writing "letters of complaint" is a favourite homework task for students. How often have you written one in real life? Do businesses in your society take them seriously?
• What information should you include in a letter of complaint?
• Consider the following ways of contacting a company to make a complaint:
  • Sending an SMS/text message.
  • Phoning.
  • Sending an email.
  • Sending a letter.

What are the positive and negative aspects of using each one?

Unusual ways of complaining

• If you cannot get satisfaction from the company, what other means could you use to make your voice heard in addition to the above?
• Consider the following additional ways of complaining and decide if they would be effective or not. Which ones would be most effective and which least effective?
  • Write a song or poem about your case and broadcast it on YouTube.
  • Write to your Member of Parliament or ombudsman.
  • Write to the newspapers.
  • Write to the appropriate industry trade body.
  • File a lawsuit.
  • Walk up and down outside the offices of the company with a banner and wearing an outlandish costume.
  • Get hold of the managing director's home phone number and repeatedly phone him at 1 am.
  • Purchasing user generated advertising space to vent your complaint.

Receiving complaints

• What do you imagine it's like to work in a busy customer help centre?
• What sort of training do you think people who work in customer service receive?
• If you had to give advice to somebody handling customer complaints all day, what advice would you give?
• What words would you use to tell somebody that you thought their complaint was not valid?

See also

• Business conversation questions
• Corporate Social Responsibility conversation questions
• Employment conversation questions
• Insurance conversation questions
• Knowledge management conversation questions
• Money conversation questions

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