Business and Professional Communication

An internal customer service provider or an internal customer is anyone in the organization. It can be a distributor who depends on the organization to provide services and products that create deliverable for external customer. An internal customer can also be another department or a co-worker. Internal customers cannot fire a department and hire another. For example, sales department do not like to account’s credit facilities hence internal customers do not have a choice.

Customer service is all about making sure that the customer is impressed with the services offered to them. This is particularly crucial to the business as it determines whether the consumer will re-purchase or not. An example is when I visited an IT department and was warmly welcomed by an IT sales representative. I wanted to know the software solution for business and explained to him in details what I wanted. He arranged for us ample time we could meet in order to provide me all information needed. The following step he took was to send me a mail regarding our meeting. The mail he sent me regarded our meeting as it also emphasized on the solution to my problem. He did not keep me in waiting, he called me when he had ample time and explained all that I needed to hear with all the commitment, knowledge and skills.  This was to ensure that I get the best solution. He later sent me quotes, which I accepted them. The solution was installed, and in a week’s time, he called through his phone to check whether I was impressed with the solution he provided. He also wanted to enquire whether I encountered any problems so far. I was satisfied with the solution, but he kept calling me after two weeks just to strengthen the relationship we had developed between the two of us.

Interpersonal communication skills demonstrated

The Internal Customer Service provider demonstrated interpersonal skills of communication. First, he used the right channel of communication that is face-to-face communication. Apart from the social context being considered, we interacted in an office and eventually outdoors. There was the two of us involved, which facilitated communication to take place. In this case, a message did not only mean speech that was used but also non-verbal messages including gestures, facial expression and body language. He also made sure that there was feedback for the communication to be effective by holding a meeting with me and ensuring that the solution was installed. This experience was similar to an excellent external service experience and the communication skills demonstrated had no difference, as well. Employing different communication skills when providing external or internal customer service or when developing interpersonal relationship in the workplace will always achieve the best results. The most critical interpersonal communication includes written word and oral communication that is face-face communication.

Unite approach of resolving conflict in a team

Conflict is a disagreement between and among people. It happens when   people fail to agree about something. One of the primary strategies of dealing with conflict is Unite. This can be done by conducting talks with other people in order to come up with a solution satisfying the mutual interests. This may cause a situation where the parties feel satisfied with the talks to the point that they can live with it. For example, supposing your friend wants to play golf but you want to go fishing, or he wants to play cards with you, but you want to go watch a movie. This can create conflict. Another instance is choosing a place to spend the holiday. A group may find it hard to decide. Shall the group visit their parents, both sets of parents, go somewhere else or stay at home instead.  They may choose to go to each place throughout the year for a different holiday. In dealing with such a conflict in a team, one should approach each individual’s interest in order to create harmony of the team. It would not be easy to introduce this team to a newly formed or established group since the group is not yet used to each other.