What is a Customer?
A customer is any individual or organisation that receives, uses, or benefits from the products, services, or processes provided by your business. Customers may be external - such as the public, clients, or partner organisations, or internal - such as colleagues and other departments (Johnston and Kong, 2011). Recognising both types is vital to ensuring consistent service across all touchpoints.
Types of Customers and How to Identify Them
Customers can be segmented in several ways:
- Demographics: Age, gender, occupation, location
- Behaviour: Buying patterns, service usage, complaints
- Needs: Functional needs, emotional expectations, urgency
- Relationship: One-time buyers vs. repeat or long-term customers
Identifying which customer group you’re dealing with allows you to personalise service and manage expectations more effectively (Kotler and Keller, 2016).
Why Customer Service Matters
Excellent customer service creates value, builds trust, and encourages repeat business. Poor service, by contrast, can damage reputations and cause customers to turn to competitors. According to research by Gazzoli, Hancer and Park (2010), perceived service quality directly influences customer loyalty, especially in competitive sectors.
Additionally, Zhao, Fu and Liang (2023) found that leaders who model strong customer orientation foster a positive team climate, which in turn enhances customer satisfaction. This suggests that customer service excellence relies not only on individual efforts but also on leadership behaviour and team culture. When employees perceive that their leaders prioritise customer needs, it strengthens their own service behaviours and improves outcomes.
Serving Customers Effectively
Key strategies include:
- Active listening: Understand not just what the customer says, but what they mean
- Empathy and emotional intelligence: Recognise and respond to customer emotions appropriately
- Clarity and accuracy: Provide reliable, correct, and understandable information
- Timeliness: Respond promptly to requests and queries
- Problem-solving: Take ownership of issues and aim for first-time resolution
Arkadan, Macdonald and Wilson (2024) emphasise the need for a Customer Experience Orientation (CXO), a mindset that encourages journey-based thinking, identifying and resolving pain points, aligning internal behaviours with customer needs, and fostering cross-functional collaboration to ensure consistency across all customer touchpoints. This means great service is not just what happens in a moment; it’s designed and delivered across the whole organisation.
Digital and Remote Customer Service
In modern workplaces, much of customer interaction happens online or remotely. This increases the need for:
- Clear written communication
- Digital literacy
- Ability to use CRM and ticketing systems
- Understanding service across multiple channels (phone, email, live chat, social media)
These require slightly different skills but share the same goal: delivering a positive, seamless experience (Verhoef et al., 2015).
Meeting Diverse Customer Needs
Different customers have different communication preferences, cultural expectations, accessibility needs, and emotional triggers. Being inclusive means adapting your approach where needed, whether that’s using simpler language, offering translation support, or using alternative contact methods. Inclusive service not only meets legal expectations (such as the Equality Act 2010) but also broadens your organisation’s reach and improves perceptions of professionalism (Brady and Cronin, 2001).
Action Point
Reflect on the different customer groups you interact with - internal or external. Identify one action you could take to better meet their needs, whether through improved communication, timeliness, empathy, or information accuracy. Consider how your behaviour can influence team climate and customer experience.