An integral part of making all aspects of retail operations successful is customer service. In this module, we discussed customer service as a differentiation tool, as a relationship with customers both internally and externally, and as a method of gathering data to improve the customer’s experience. Understanding your customer’s expectations and how to meet (and exceed) them is key to understanding your customer’s value proposition and to delivering a relevant level of service.

When we consider how a person’s perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and values can substantially influence his or her experience and involvement with our products, we can reflect on how to better serve our customers. It’s important to note that consumer involvement in this process tends to vary dramatically depending on the type of product and its relationship to the consumer. The key challenge is prioritizing information sources, making sense of and acting on the available information. We also learned about the Gap Model of Service Quality “5 Gap Model,” and now you’re ready to identify root causes and actions to address customer satisfaction issues and close the corresponding service gap.

A quote from Maya Angelou, an American author, sums it up best: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”