New for this edition:* Fully revised and updated throughout;* Three new cases on sustainability and customer service and updated cases throughout. * Brand new chapter on 'Customer service and sustainability' covering topics such as: The role of customer service in promoting sustainability; How sustainable practices lead to customer loyalty; How service quality perception affects the authenticity of sustainability initiatives; and three new case studies showing customer service and sustainability in practice.* New and extended material and case studies on AI and its influence on customer service. A fully revised and updated new edition of this bestselling and a unique text that explains not only the theory behind the importance of customer service but also acts as a guidebook for those wishing to put this theory into practice. In essence it is the 'whys' and 'hows'of customer service. Fully updated with current statistics, trends, and examples, it is full of up to date references to all the latest research from both academic and practitioner literature. Chapters cover important topics such as the financial and behavioural consequences of customer service, consumer trends influencing service, developing and maintaining a service culture, managing service encounters, the importance of market research, building and maintaining customer relationships, providing customer service through the servicescape, the impact of technology on customer service, the importance of service recovery, and promoting customer service internally and externally.The fourth edition of this book - like the first and second - is easy to read, very current, and full of references to all the latest research. It contains brand new material on issues surrounding sustainability and AI in the context of customer services, as well three brand new cases associated with these topics and a brand new chapter on 'Customer service and sustainability' covering topics such as: The role of customer service in promoting sustainability; How sustainable practices lead to customer loyalty; How service quality perception affects the authenticity of sustainability initiatives; and three new case studies showing customer service and sustainability in practice.