BS2914 Quality Management & Customer Care 2: Customer Care: philosophy and procedures

BS2914 Quality Management & Customer Care

2: Customer Care: philosophy and procedures

BS2914 Quality Management & Customer Care2: Customer Care: philosophy and procedures

Why is customer care important ?

• Increasing market competition

• Globalisation

• Rise of consumerism

• Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) as important an asset as capital and labour

• Reflects on how well staff themselves are treated


Why are customers valuable ?

• Think of customers as an income stream e.g. how much is spent over 12 years by a family spending £80 per week on groceries

• 60% customers are repeat business

• Much cheaper to retain customers than attract new ones


Succinctly…

• “We had a simple goal, find the right customers, learn what they want, sell it to them, service all their needs”

• Gabrielle Battista, President of Cable and Wireless


But central problems to be solved are:

1. Enterprise information and customer information must be integrated into a single whole

2. New kinds of customer behavioural information must be captured and processed

3. Customers and employees must share a common knowledge base


Aspects of service

• The product (e.g. mortgage package, meal)

• The process (how handled)

• The programmes (when dealt with)

• The plant (types of equipment and particular usage)

• The people (trained, motivated, rewarded)


Characteristics of service industries…

• Consumed at point of production

• Customer is present

• Mistakes cannot be hidden

• Greater importance of ‘right first time’

• Process is hard to control with customer there

• Customers react to situations


1. “Almost all services depend, in one way or another, on other services, as part of the input, throughput or output and sometimes all three “

2. “Quality.. applies as much to the relationships along the chain as it does to the ultimate link”

Lucy Gaster, Quality in Public Services


Complaint Handling

• Help customers to complain accurately (know exactly what has gone wrong)

• Have a well established and speedy procedure

• How are ‘customers from hell’ dealt with?

• How do we interpret numbers of complaints?


Web-based Customer Care

• Historically, we use a cost-free call-centre

• Virtually every area of customer support (information, support, maintenance, warranties, upgrades, status) can be handled over the Internet.

• E-commerce allows possibilities for accessing information for life-time value


Customer Relationship Marketing…

• Creates dialogues with customers to supply needs rather than sell products

• Not meant to be a ‘quick fix’ but a change in marketing strategy

• Long term aim is to build customers for life

• Be capable of delivering real solutions


• Be on Time• Follow Up on

Promises• Under-promise,over-

deliver• Go the extra mile• Offer Customer

Options

• Express Sympathy• Give Customers

highest priority• Treat co-workers as

customers• Give Customer your

name and number• Develop good

telephone manner

10 Good Customer Habits to Develop


• Start the day right• Discuss Feelings• Do the Right thing• Support Staff’s

decisions• Be willing not to

know the answer

• Learn to listen• Take time to socialise• Good telephone

etiquette• Thank staff often• Say what you mean

(mean what you say)

10 Good Ways to be a role model


• ‘I don’t know’• ‘No’• ‘That’s not my job’• ‘You’re right – this

stinks’• ‘That’s not my fault’

• ‘You need to talk to my manager’

• ‘You want it when?’• ‘Calm down’• ‘I’m busy just now’• ‘Call me back’

10 Major Don’ts (and Do’s)


• De Bono’s ‘Six Hats’

White Objective info (facts and figures)

What facts do I need ? How do I get them?

Red Feelings, emotions, non-rational feelings

How do I feel about this ?

Black Why ideas will not work What are downsides ?

Yellow Opportunities, possibilities Advantages? Best possible outcome ?

Green Creative new ideas Fresh innovative approaches, creative

Blue Control of the thinking process – ‘Cool’

Review thoughts, think of next logical step


• How would you plan a customer care programme for a library/information centre ?

Documents

BS2914 Quality Management & Customer Care 2: Customer Care: philosophy and procedures