3 3 using practical ethics to improve customer service on the frontline Reginald L. Bell, Ph.D. T he goal of ethics is for people to conscientiously act in ways that improve human experience. The goal of customer service, therefore, is for employees to act in ways that improve customer experience. For this reason, practical ethics on the frontline requires that employees use any interaction with a customer as an opportunity to make a personal connection with a customer’s predicament (empathy), deliver an optimal good or service (expediency), and resolve a customer’s problem or complaint swiftly (solution). But first, what is ethics? Ethics in General Ethics, simply put, means doing what is right in circumstances where shared values, beliefs and social customs combine to improve human experience. Presented in Table 1 is the definition of ethics and its derivatives found in Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. Ethics means a moral person conscientiously acts based on personal values, beliefs and philosophy. For frontline employees, good customer service becomes pragmatic only if they can understand moral principles. Table 1: Definition of the Word Ethics and Its Derivatives