Passion to Profession

Customer Service What is customer service? Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. “Customer service is not about you or your company, it is about the customer. – It is about the customer’s wants, needs, and expectations. ” (Bolden, Colon, 2010) Often, customer service occurs while performing a transaction for a customer such as making a sale or returning an item. It can take the form of personal interaction, a phone call, or by other means. It is an important part of our job and should not be seen as an extension of it.
A company’s most vital asset is its customers and without them, we would not and could not exist in business. When you satisfy our customers, they not only help us grow by continuing to do business with you, but recommend you to friends and associates. Every single contact with a customer can either cultivate or corrode the relationship with a customer. This includes every letter or email that is sent out, every ad that may run and every phone call made. Working as a Medical Assistant in a doctor’s office is direct contact with patients in many aspects.
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The customer service starts from the moment the patients walk into the office. Many patients have questions and concerns about their treatments, illnesses, tests, lab results, financial status, etc. , and it is the job of a medical assistant to effectively serve the patient to their satisfaction. My career goal is to teach in the Allied Health field and customer service is a must. The three-fold Bachelor’s degree I am now working on at Florida Technical College consists of Health Service Administration, Health Information Technology and Medical Assistant.
It will equip me to teach clinical and practical skills to Medical Assistants and other health professionals. In order to accomplish my goal to teach, it is imperative that I learn effective customer service skills. When dealing with students, customer service means going the extra mile, helping students with their questions and their thirst for knowledge. It also means making sure that when it’s time to start the clinical practice; each student understands technique and the importance of following rules and guidelines. In all sense, teaching requires good communication and customer service skills.
Teachers provide a service, provide the community with educated people, provide the students with a safe learning environment, and provide the students with useful and relevant education. Teachers do not only teach class, they send out emails, post updates on blogs, have a website on a server; they motivate the students to learn what I know they need to learn. In order to be a good teacher, you have to develop a program that is suitable for your students. You must prepare activities which can enhance the physical, intellectual and cultural abilities of students.
A teacher can do so much better in their career and in accomplishing their educational goals with their students if they would add a little customer service strategy to their teaching. Communication Communication is a two-way process of reaching a mutual understanding in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. (Graham, Paul, 2006) Communication involves means such as listening, speaking, writing and reading. All these means can be used for an active communication process.
In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. Many times, one of the biggest challenges people face when developing customer relations skills is empathy. If we are empathetic, it helps us better understand a person or situation, enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and is imperative in leadership. In my personal experience in the medical field, communication has always been very important, and has also gone hand in hand with empathy–the ability to identify with and understand somebody else’s feelings or difficulties.
Good customer service cannot exist without communication. When I worked as manager of an assisted living facility in Lewiston, Idaho, my job was communication between the elderly residents and their families, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and healthcare and social service agencies. Many times I was liaison between the resident and Medicare/Medicaid. Effective communication required phone calls, conversations with residents and family members in order to make important healthcare decisions, formal and informal memorandums to staff and/or management, and formal professional letters.
In all essence, customer service and communication cannot work individually. Communication in all its aspects is imperative for effective customer relations. References: 1. Bolden ,Colon. Jun 28, 2010. Customer Service Tips-The Best Way to Treat People. Retrieved from: http://www. articlesbase. com/customer-service-articles/customer-service-tips-on-the-best-way-to-treat-people-2738621. html 2. Graham, Paul. 2013 Web Finance Inc. Retrieved from: http://www. businessdictionary. com/tips/customer-service