CUSTOMER SERVICE TERMINOLOGY

Before going further, we will define four terms that _are frequently used throughout this manual: customer,

Going to sick call

Obtaining information on educational opportunities

Receiving dental assistance

Being processed for reenlistment

Mailing a package at the ship's post office

Checking out a book in the library

Submitting a leave request

The following are some instances in which dependents are customers: . Receiving medical care

l Arranging for shipment of personal property Shopping in the Navy Exchange Attending the theater l l l Using the swimming pool

The list could go on and on, but these examples show that everyone may be a customer several times a day. Other terms may be interchanged with the term customer. Client, for example, refers to anyone for whom a service requiring some degree of confidentiality is provided. Patient usually refers to someone for whom a health service is provided. The term customer merely refers to a person for whom a general service is provided.

CONTACT POINT

Contact point is, very simply, the physical location to which a customer goes to obtain a service. Some examples of contact points are as follows: . Sick bay . Dining facility l Post office l Ship's store l Legal service office l Ship's office l Personnel office . Disbursing office

These points are manned by the persons who provide direct services to customers. Indirect services provided by other ratings pertain more to the operation of the ship or activity and are not necessarily performed at a contact point. The following are examples:

l The MM or FN operating the evaprators to provide fresh water

l The BM or SN who keeps the liberty boat in operational condition

. The YN who types and prints the plan of the day

. The AK or AN who procures parts and supplies for operational commitments

Ships and activities have various contact points. The size of the command, number of personnel assigned, and the scope of service provided are factors that determine how many contact points are needed. These contact points are where you, your dependents, your seniors, and your subordinates go to obtain services, advice, and answers to questions. They are important because the services they provide are important. However, the quality of those services is determined by the persons _{providing them-} YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PERSONS.

Because "contact point representative" is a rather long title, the word you is used in this manual when referring to the person manning the contact point. Therefore, you may refer to the reader or to the contact point representative.

SKILLS

Skill is the ability to do something well as the result of talent, training, or practice, or a combination of these. A multitude of skills come into play in your day-to-day activities-military, professional, and athletic skills, just to mention a few.

We are concerned here with face-to-face, or interpersonal, skills. These are the skills that enable you to interact effectively with people. Basically, these skills include the ability to listen to, work with, and speak to an individual as a PERSON and NOT as an inanimate object.

The structure of the Navy tends to foster an impersonal attitude in its members. We never see the people who make most of the decisions that affect our lives-type of duty, permanent change of station, and entitlement for medical. Our relationship with these people does not involve face-to-face contact. However, that is not the type of relationship that exists aboard ship or at a station. There, you are face to face with the customer; there, the relationship becomes personal.

This personal interaction (action and reaction) requires face-to-face skills if it is to be effective. People who are the most successful in sales are normally the ones who can apply face-to-face skills. They LISTEN to customers so that they can better understand their needs; they SPEAK to the customers so that customers understand fully what they are saying. They make every effort to ensure customer satisfaction.

Your effectiveness at the contact point depends on how well you listen, speak, and respond to the customer's needs-how well you acquire and use face-to-face skills.