What Can You Do for Me? Communication Methods Customers Use to Solicit Personalization within the Service Encounter

Abstract

When customers call a service organization to inquire about a problem with their account or order, they often find themselves dependent on representatives to assist them with their needs. One could argue that, from a customer's perspective, personalized service is a reasonable expectation within a service encounter. By tracking customers' orientation to when personalization is relevant for them, this article describes communication methods customers use to solicit individualized attention in an otherwise scripted service encounter. The findings in this article contribute to the body of work that focuses on the accomplishment of personalization within service encounters, and have implications for future research on communication practices in organizational contexts.

Keywords:

• Customer Service
• Conversation Analysis
• Personalized Service
• Organizational Discourse

Notes

[1] In a study on personalization versus standardization of weight taking measurements in nurse–patient interaction, Pillet-Shore (2006) noted there are clear interactional benefits when participants treat each other as “persons,” as opposed to nurses treating patients as simply routine, standardized cases. That is, when nurses invite patients to participate in the procedure, they give patients an opportunity to affiliate with them during an otherwise face-threatening component of the medical encounter, thereby gaining patients’ cooperation and possibly improving overall patient satisfaction (Pillet-Shore, 2006).

[2] Jobcentre agencies in the UK are equivalent to the unemployment agencies in the USA, wherein one organizational goal focuses on providing job skill training to assist unemployed citizens so they may find future work.

[3] Important for this analysis is that the organization’s website is linked to the repair tracking system that representatives work from during these calls. Therefore hearing that the customer found information on the website should alert the representative that if she is going to provide service, then she should report information that goes beyond what the customer already knows.

[4] By “simple,” I mean a service request that is a straight request for information, and is not complicated by explicit or embedded service complaints or additional service requests.