Practical teamwork for customer service

Abstract

Draws on the experience of the authors of developing teamwork to strengthen the quality of customer service. Argues that managers who care about their customers cannot leave teamwork to chance. Managers need to recognize the signs of team effectiveness and early indications of problems and what they should do about them to assure consistently high standards. Working together produces good customer service. Strong teams, for example, assure consistency of communication with the customer, deadlines are more likely to be met and everyone takes responsibility for their actions. In the customer′s eyes a weak team shows itself through poor customer service such as the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, commitments being missed or revised and a lack of ownership for actions and issues.

Citation

Macaulay, S. and Cook, S. (1995), "Practical teamwork for customer service", Team Performance Management, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 35-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527599510084858