Chapter 5:
Effective Customer Service
Customer service includes all of your company's interactions with your customers and
clients. Quality customer service forces the clients to return again and again to your service
or product, as well as bring their friends, relatives, etc.
Quality customer service
- Dissatisfied customer – A dissatisfied customer is one who feels a business did
not provide a product or service as expected. Dissatisfied and angry customers
arrive at their feelings from different circumstances, but neither is good for
business. Soothing unhappy customers might actually enhance small business's
image as one that cares if customers are happy and giving it a competitive
advantage. Customer remains dissatisfied unless the company knows what the
customer expects out of their product or services.
- Satisfied customer - determines how happy customers are with a company’s products,
services, and capabilities. Customer satisfaction information, including surveys and
ratings, can help a company determine how to best improve or changes its products and
services
Customer service
- Provision of quality service going beyond the customer’s expectations or what the
customer asked for and deliver the service efficiently so that the customers are
content, loyal and keep coming.
- Important of customer service is that builds good customer relations which are
necessary for the success of a business or organization
Dimensions of Service Quality
Reliability – dependable, accuracy and performance (the ability to perform
the promised service dependably and accurately. Customers want to count on
the businesses they buy from - that’s at the heart of this dimension. )
Responsiveness – helpfulness and promptness (the willingness to help
customers and provide prompt service. Responsiveness lets your customers
know that you’re listening to them and working actively to solve their
problems.)
Tangible – physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication
material (the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and
communication materials.)
Competency– qualification, professional training & skills of providing
customer service are essential in providing quality customer service
Courtesy – politeness, respect, consideration, and kindliness
Communication – keeping customer informed and listening to customers
Empathy – ability to understand other people’s feelings and experiences.
(The caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers.)
Assurance – guarantee and promise to the customers that the service
provider is committed to giving them relevant and reliable services on time.
(The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust
and confidence.)
Factors Impacting on Customer Service
Customer Strategy
Customer segmentation
- Dividing customers into district group based on their characteristics.
- The practice of dividing a customer base into groups of individuals that are
similar in specific ways relevant to marketing, such as age, gender, interests
and spending habits.
Service standard
- Develop a service standard
- The customer service standard refers to the performance the customer can
expect from customer service as defined in the charter. For example “next day
delivery “.
Sensitization workshop and orientation programs
- Assist to equip their customers with necessary skills to capture and manage
records
- Orientation and training programs are important components in the processes
of developing a committed and flexible high‐potential workforce and
socializing new employees.
Marketing of services
- Carry out some marketing activities
- Service marketing refers to the application of a different set of tactics or
strategies to anticipate the consumer’s need for an intangible product. And
thus, meet their requirements accordingly, to create maximum value for them
from their purchase.
Feedback from customers
- Is capable of helping service provider to monitor and detect changes in
customer needs
Dealing with customer complaints
- Welcome complaint to satisfy customers
Channel Strategy
give customers easy access to service
Product Strategy
Customer needs
o should first compile profile of their customers
Consultation of customers
o have to respect and accommodate ideas and suggestions of customers
Availability of the product needed by customers
o develop tools that help customers to easily locate information they want
Promptness of the services
o customers should not be kept waiting for a long time
Infrastructure strategy
Human resource
Expected behavior of service providers
Atmosphere
Tangibles
Technology
Challenges to provision of quality customer service
Caliber of records officers
Inadequate staff
Lack of vital records management tools
Retention schedules
Security and protection of Archives and Records
Inadequate and poor storage space
Lack of cooperation from customers