During the past 14 years of my professional career, I have had the pleasure of being able to provide customer service to others. It quickly became a passion of mine, as I thoroughly enjoyed the moment that I was able to meet the need of someone and even more so if I exceeded their expectation. Since we speak Gallup StrengthsFinder at IUAA, I have Achiever in my Top 5. It actually is my number one strength and I take great pride in striving to meet expectations or even set the bar higher.

When it comes to providing customer service to others, there will be very rewarding experiences along with some teachable moments. After all, we are human and no one gets things perfect all the time (even though I definitely try). Below are some easy tips that I have learned along the way that I hope will be helpful for you to keep in mind for when you are working with our alumni who can also be considered our clients:

1. Always treat each alumni client as if this is their first interaction with you or IUAA. You do not want your first impression to be their last.
2. When you greet an alumni client on the phone or in person, do so with a smile. Make them feel welcome and that you are happy to hear from them. If in person, have positive and open body language. Do not stand with your arms crossed, for example, which exhibits unwelcoming body language
3. Listen to their needs-no matter if it is a complaint, just wanting to talk, asking a ton of questions or venting. Be present in the conversation.
4. Clarify at the end to show that you have an understanding so the alumni client feels as if they have been heard and ask questions if you need clarity.
5. Give your alumni client the opportunity to provide you with feedback and do something positive with that information. You are denying yourself (and IUAA) the chance to become more professional if you are not open to feedback from others. You are doing yourself a disservice.

Many times we focus so heavily on the external customers that we forget about the internal customer. You might even be thinking, “What is an internal customer?” An internal customer is someone whom you might walk past in the mailroom or sit across from in the next staff meeting. An internal customer is your colleague and  just as important as an external customer.

We can not only provide excellent customer service to our external customers but to our internal customers as well. Positive and strong workplace relationships are very important and the root of creating these is providing great customer service to each other. We all know that nothing is worse than working in a toxic environment and at the IU Alumni Association we strive to provide excellent customer service to both our internal and external customers.

Learn more information on this topic, especially how to navigate workplace relationships, and work with a career coach. We would love to help you lead with gold star customer service techniques in your career.