What is customer service orientation?
Customer service orientation is a person's or organization's tendency to anticipate, recognize and meet customers' needs, shown through helpfulness, patience, follow-through and a genuine desire to solve problems. It is often assessed as a competency when hiring for customer-facing roles.
Signs of strong service orientation
| Behavior | Example |
|---|---|
| Anticipates needs | Shares a workaround before being asked |
| Listens actively | Restates the problem accurately |
| Follows through | Updates the customer as promised |
| Stays patient | Explains a step again kindly |
| Takes ownership | Doesn't pass the customer around |
Service-oriented vs customer-oriented
The terms are used almost interchangeably. "Service-oriented" can also describe architecture in software (SOA), which is unrelated.
In hiring
Interviewers ask for examples of going beyond expectations, handling difficult customers and resolving complex problems.
