Customer Service

What is Customer Service?

Customer service = the way

organisations look after their

customers

Customer Service is Important

• Part of the package of benefits that a customer buys – i.e. part of marketing mix

• Provides a way to differentiate a product• Helps keep customers & win new ones• Makes customers feel valued• Important source of customer feedback• It helps attract and retain good quality

employees

The Link with Quality

Products and services that meet

customer needs and wants

Quality

The way a business looks

after customers

Customer Service

Competition is Heating Up!

• Businesses can’t be complacent about their customers

• E-commerce and email marketing - businesses can reach customers 24/7

• Technology allows products to meet individual customer needs more closely

• Increasing customer confidence in complaining!

Roles for Customer Service

• Presenting an appropriate image of the organisation

• Ensuring that customer needs are met• Providing information & advice• Taking messages & keeping records• Providing assistance• Dealing with problems & handling

complaints

Many Contacts with the Customer

• When a customer is enquiring about the product

• Taking a customer order or payment• Delivering a product• When handling a complaint or problem• When making repairs or doing

maintenance• Providing after-sales care

How Customers are different

• Individual v groups• Age & gender• Cultural & ethic backgrounds• Language• Technical knowledge• Income

What Do Customers Need?

• Safety and security• Clear and accurate information • Rights to be upheld• Impartiality and objectivity• Complaint, enquiry and suggestion

procedures• Cater for special needs• Ethical delivery

Types of Customer Feedback

• Positive Feedback– Information from satisfied customers– Confirms business is doing something right / well– Encourages & motivates staff

• Negative Feedback– Information from unhappy customers– Vital indicator about what may need to be done to gain

and keep hold of customers– Often obtained from customer complaints– It is often said that the worst customer is an unhappy

customer who doesn’t tell you about it

How to encourage customers to complain

• Make it easy to complain: e.g. free phone number; complaint forms

• Customer service feedback forms• Train staff to listen carefully / look for

problems• Reward customer feedback with incentives

(e.g. discounts, special offers, entry into prize draws)

• Thank customers when they submit complaints

Handling Customer Complaints

• No matter how good the product, or the level of customer service, complaints happen!

• Complaints should be dealt with…– Quickly– Efficiently– In the same way (consistently)

• Objectives for dealing with complaints– Try to restore customer satisfaction– Try to maintain customer loyalty– Behave in a way that develops the business reputation

for being fair but sensible

Top 10 Customer ComplaintsNo Complaint

1 Being kept on hold for excessive lengths of time, while being told repeatedly how much the organisation values their custom

2 Organisations which ignore basic consumer rights, e.g. taking back faulty goods and being refused a refund and told to change it for another product

3 Battling bureaucracy to resolve a problem. Staff should be empowered to tackle complaints immediately

4 Rude or over-friendly staff - both extremes can make customers feel uncomfortable

5 Anonymous staff who refuse to give their names

6 Broken promises - businesses should not make promises to customers which they cannot honour

7 Inflexible delivery times - businesses which refuse to deliver beyond a narrow, fixed time, or at weekends

8 Lack of customer-friendly complaints handling systems - if it is difficult to complain, most people will not bother. They will simply take their business elsewhere

9 Premium rate advice lines. It would be better to provide a Free phone numbers

10 No human voices on the telephone - mechanised systems which take customers through a lengthy process only to deliver them back to the beginning

Ways to Keep Customers Happy

Action Why

Listen Listen to complaints and compliments. Don't be defensive – accept criticisms as they will highlight areas for improvement. Let customers know if you are acting on their suggestions

Build trust Keep promises. Deliver when you say you will. If things go wrong put them right quickly

Take complaints seriously

Don't be dismissive or patronising. Have a customer friendly system for dealing with complaints so that if things go wrong, staff are easily accessible to put things right

Get it right first time

Saves you time and money if customers are handled well from the outset

Make the most of your staff

Invest in training. Value them. Empower them to deal quickly with complaints. This will build morale and happy staff lead to happy customers

Go the extra mile A willingness to delight customers is what separates the best from the rest

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes

Would you be delighted by the service you receive? Would you do business with you?

Mystery Shopping

• Method of market research• Mystery shoppers hired to test

customer service levels– Transactions– Quality of service– After-sales– Store ambience

• Powerful feedback if properly organised

Test Your Understanding

http://www.tutor2u.net/business/quiz/customerservice/quiz.html

Customer Service