John's SLCC E-Portfolio

HUMAN RELATIONS 

MARKETING 1010 - CUSTOMER SERVICE 

This course is devoted to understanding basic skills related to customer service and how to apply them to  build successful business and personal relationships. I was asked to upload three different assignments from the semester dealing with various aspects of customer service. The first is from our section about listening skills and their importance. The second I was asked to write about a quote from Marshall Field and how it relates to getting customer feedback to recover upset customers. The third I was asked to write about opening a restaurant and my plan to have the restaurant succeed by providing "A-plus" value. 

This assignment gave me an opportunity to examine my own past experiences with listening and if I was guilty of interrupting people before they were finished speaking and how that might have affected the relationship. I realize that my experiences with UPS, although frustrating at the time, gave me an opportunity to look back now and realize I didn't like treating people that way and I wouldn't want to be treated that way myself. Efficiency and cost effectiveness is important, but not at the expense of hurting and driving away customers or damaging personal relationships. We need to have patience and listen to gain understanding of the other person before we can respond effectively and help them. I hope I will continue to remember the experience that I had there and not allow it to be repeated in my future relationships in business and my personal life. 

This assignment caused me to think about the purpose of feedback, especially negative feedback. I think sometimes we put too much emphasis on our personal feelings and agendas and let it get in the way of fixing problems and finding solutions. We can only grow, learn, and improve when we know their is a problem. If we get too caught in being attacked and looked at negatively, we miss the opportunity to change what went wrong and try to make it better. I think that is the essence of what Field was trying to convey. 

This assignment was fun but also challenging. It was fun to be creative and dream about what I might be able to accomplish with opening my own Vietnamese restaurant. It was also challenging to sit down and think about the meaning of value and how I would try to achieve exceptional value in my hypothetical business. It gave me an opportunity to look at other restaurants and what I liked and didn't like in terms of value and experience. It helped me to think about what I would want as a customer and try to apply those same ideas to my business.