I bought this book to read as I thought it would give me some insights into providing better service at work. I’m not on the support department, but I think it’s important for everyone to know how best we can help the clients we’re working with.

Unfortunately for me, this book was quite focused around customer service jobs in the retail and hospitality areas, rather than customer service in a technical support capacity. Some of the ideas carry over, but some didn’t feel as relevant. To be expected though, when the book is written by the former Executive Vice President of Operations at Disney World.

To paraphrase a few of the rules in the book:

Customer service is far more than a department name, and great service  is not just about what we do; it’s also about what we are. It’s a personal responsibility. And it’s not the responsibility only of people called customer service reps. Great service is a competitive advantage that costs you little or nothing but adds huge value for your customer. Satisfied customers are the best marketing staff you can possibly have.

This was kind of what I expected when I picked up this book, information about how customer service is a company-wide responsibility. The quote below struck a chord with me as self-learning is something that I’ve lacked in previous years, but I’m trying to improve on now.

Basically, the organizations with the best service are ones that become environments of continuous learning, at every level of the company. But don’t blame your supervisor or your company if you do not have the knowledge and skills you ought to have.

This one also resounded with me too, another thing that I’m trying hard to work on.

Failing to truly listen to others is just a bad habit, and it’s one most of us have to some degree. It’s all too easy to talk too much and listen much too little.

I’m sure we can all relate to the following quote. It’s been 4 years since I worked in direct customer contact, but I can still remember instances where customers drove me to the point of despair with how rude or awkward they were being, and this is definitely something to keep in mind.

Just as we sometimes feel frustrated or infuriated by people in our own families, it’s normal to sometimes get aggravated by our customers. None of it matters. Make each of them feel special anyway. So the louder they get, the quieter you should get. The more agitated they become, the calmer you should become. As the old saying goes, “When you argue with an idiot, there are two idiots.”

I’ll finish with this final quote:

Better is not a destination; it is a journey. You never arrive at better; it is always in the future, because there is always an even better way to serve your customers.