Customer Service

“Plan are nothing planning is everything”

Overview Customer Service

1. INTRO – Definition2. Changes factor : Eco, Socio – Culture and Demographic3. Factor responsible for shift to a Service culture – 3 C + 1T Competitive, Customer DD , Consumer behavior & Technology

4 . What is Service Culture• Equipment based & People based service

5 .Element of Service Quality – REARResponsive, Empathy , Assurance, Reliability

• What is Marketing MIX – 4P’s

• Customer – Friendly System – backs up the service people designed for convinenince.

6. Strategies for promoting positive service culture1. Conduct Service audit2. Develop a company wide service strategy3. Conduct training for employee4. Implement Service improvement program5. Make service improvement permanent.

7.Closing:Summary of keys points.

Definition

• Customer service is the lifeblood of any business. It is not what people think – the forced smiles & greeting one gives a customers .

• Customer service is the fundamental approach to the standard and service quality . Its cover every aspect of company operation from design of product / service to how it is packaged ,delivered and serviced . It has many definition to many different people .

General Definition

• CS covers all the activities that an organisation carries out in order to meet the needs and expectation.

• Thus CS entails the provision to customer before, during and after purchase.

• Jemier L.Scott (2002) defines it as a series of activities designed to ehnance the level of customer satisfaction.

• The feeling that a product or services has met customer expectation.

• A Good CS is supposed to match and exceed customer expectation.

What is satisfaction

• is a person’s feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome,

• In relation to his or her expectation. Example:• Companies aiming for Total Customer Satisfaction”. (TCS)• Xeror , guarantees “TCS”, will replace of its expenses any

dissatisfied Customer’s equipment for a period of three years after purchase.

• Customer Japanese word “ Honored Guest”

Measure Customer Satisfaction

• Complaints• Suggestion system• Customer Satisfaction- Survey• Ghost shopping• Lost Customer Analysis.

The Economic Environment

• The overall health of the economy influences how much consumer spend and buy.

• Consumer buying plays important role in the overall economic activity.

• Marketing activity is directed toward satisfying consumer wants and needs.

• Organisation must understand how economic condition influence consumer buying decision and customer services

Socioculture Enviroment• Socio-cultural environment represent the values, attributes and

general behaviour of the individuals in a given society.• The Socio-cultural evolves slowly. • The recent year seen a substantial change in individual values,

family structures, leisure activities.• These changes have affected the customer preferences for

services.• Younger generation, particularly college students referred to as generation X they need and wants are different

and affected the customer service. . Service marketer often must adjust their offering and marketing

mixes to adapt to Socio - cultural changes.

Demographic

• China and India will account for most of this increase . Europe over the next 30 years is expected to have a declining population . The United States is the only major developed country projected to show a population increase from 263 million (current) to 331 million by 2025

• A major trend is the ageing of the world’s population, caused primarily by declining mortality rates .

• Corresponding changes in consumer preferences for services.

List the six major components of a customer-focused environment

• Create customer focus throughout the business

• Listen to the customer• Target customer precisely• Make customer value the guiding• Measure and manage customer expectation• Build customer relationship and loyalty

Factors responsible for shift to a service culture

• Competitive• Customer demand better quality• Consumer behavior• Technology

Competition

• The competition among the Industries for higher – quality products and services for sustain their business and profitability.

• Thus providing more than consumer needs.• Government regulation especially for legal and

medical services for more efficient.

Customer demand better quality

• Firms around the Globe have responded to driving force by creating total quality management system to reduce the product defects.

• Any company wishing to compete with rivals having better products and services had use TQM.

• Adding the more services to their product product mix to meet customer satisfaction.

Consumer behaviour

• Changing Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles• Each individual has personal motivations, perceptions

and preferences.• These influenced by their age, income, education, job

position, personality, attitudes and lifestyles. • Different satisfaction level • “ want the best” , “want- everything done”• “ keep it simple” , “own expert”• Younger generation highly educated and computer

expert.

Technological Environment

• The technological emerge as primary factor changes in service.

• Technological advances improve the productivity of service, create new methods

for business expansion. example: Rise of virtual business schools, videoconferencing

technology ,

Service Culture

• Term service covers a wide range of products. • A general definition services as intangible tasks

that satisfy consumer and business user needs.• Service culture growing importance for

Organization to sustain and retain the customer. Classification of Services• Equipment based and people based Services

Equipment based and people based Services

• Equipment based services• Automated services ( automated bank tellers), Equipment operated by relatively unskilled

operates ( car washes) Equipment operated by skilled operates

( airlines)• People based services – maid, professionals.

Elements of a Service Culture

1. Responsiveness – Promptness and helpfulness

2. Assurance – Competence, Courtesy & Credibility

3. Empathy – Good communication & customer understanding

4. Reliability - Dependable performance

Responsiveness

• Involves the willingness and readiness of Organization staff to provide service.

• Responsive services immediately handle an emergency at Medical center, promptly record frequent flyer mileage and return phone calls before the end of the day

Reliability

• Refers to the consistency and dependability of the service provider’s performance.

• GM’s Mr. Goodwrench advertising campaign emphasizes this determinant of service quality

• In promoting dealership auto repair services.

Assurance

• Refers to the confidence communicated service provider. A physician with friendly bedside manner, H &R block’s guarantee and warranty provided by Termine’s are example.

Empathy

• Results from the providers effort to understand customer’s needs and then individualize service delivery. Dean Witter’s Slogan” Serving one investor time “

Marketing Mix- 4P’s

• When a company pursues the goal of a culture of service, it must design its marketing mix to support the decision. Marketing Mix as blending of four strategic elements – product, price, promotion & place

The Service provider

• Most of buyer form the perceptions of service quality during the service counter,

• The actual interaction points between customer and the service provider .

Types of Service Organisations:• Frontlines employees like bank tellers,

receptionists, and airline ticket agents.• Entertainment, Health care, Food service,

transportation.

Services provider -Job responsibility

• Supporting the customer on their work toward business goals and objectives. Anderson, Neville clark for example provides consulting services to help businesses improve the effectiveness of their management, finance and technology program

• Service Purchases hire outside firms to perform core tasks of the business , outsource the its distribution activities.

• Distribution activities –Outsourced –alerts its delivery schedule and priorities.

Customer- friendly systems

• The delivery system that backs up the service people is designed for convenience of customers rather than the convenience of the firm and its staff.

• The physical facilities, policies, procedures, methods and communication processes all the say customers.

Well-Conceived strategy for service

• Highly competitive firms have discovered, invented, or evolved a unifying idea about what they do.

• This service concept or service strategy directs the attention of the people in the company toward the real priorities of the customer.

Strategies for promoting a positiveservice culture

1. Conduct a service audit2. Develop a company wide service strategy3. Conduct ‘wall to wall’ employee training4. Implement the service improvement program5.Make the Service improvement permanent

Conduct a Service audit

• Audits mean measurement ; tracking customer satisfaction. The features of service that are important to customers and how they prioritized is the starting point to design a customer service audit.

• An audit evaluates how well a firm rates in comparison to its rival service mix.

Develop a company- wide service strategy

• A firm needs a service mission statement clarifying how its competitive advantage is based on service quality delivery

• Eg. Frito-lay, a maker of snack foods defines service as 99.99%

Conduct ‘wall- to –wall employee training

• Training employees to deliver excellent service is an investment in future earnings.

• Managers in companies that deliver excellent service know that there is a link among customer satisfaction, employee morale and service quality training.

Implement the service improvement programme

• Employee empowerment, most companies implement service quality improvement programme by expanding the discretion of front-line employees as they work to improve service quality

Make the service improvement permanent

• To make service improvement permanent, work force management practices such as performance measurement, incentive system design and communication practices have to be changed.

• Employees learn new service focused job behaviour , employees to be rewarded when they succeed in delivering excellent service.

• Create new culture based on service.

Strategies for promoting a positive service culture.

• Firms must identify the service mixes that successfully attract consumers.

• Extend their services by offering new services. For example telephone companies have added a variety of new functions to basic telephone access.

• Customers can identify callers before answering their phones.