Job roles within the customer service function
As you can see when you refer to the diagram of the hierarchical structure (appendix 1) the customer focus team leader overseas the responsibilities of the lower levels within the structure. The team leader will also delegate tasks to the lower subordinates. There are also three levels of management in the hierarchy who will also oversee the running of the function. The ass. Manager will pass information onto the colleges about what needs to be done and will tell them information that they may need to now when dealing with a customer enquiry.
The colleagues are the people that deal with the customers face to face. For example you will have people working on the customer service desk in ASDA who deal with problems and enquiries. Also they have the trolley collectors that will help you with your bags to the car then return your trolley.(for further information refer to AO1)
How needs and expectations of customers impacts the various stages of the business cycle
Decline/recession
During a decline, consumers spend less and investors become more cautious about the future. This causes factories production to slow down and workers are laid off. Therefore this increases unemployment which means this reduces spending in the market place even further. This is also contributing to the economy decline.
Slump/trough
This is the very lowest point in the decline. This is the period where there is high unemployment; peoples disposable income will have dropped to a minimum and prices will also drop as there is less money being circulated in the economy.
Boom
In this stage of the cycle most people have jobs as a knock on affect of this they tend to be buying more goods and services. This helps to keep the economy strong. Throughout this period you will see the highest levels of inflation as produces try to slow the increases in their products in order to get a bigger share of the market. Also customers have a larger disposable income therefore they have a greater spending power.
Recovery
Throughout this stage the economy is starting to improve. People start spending more therefore producers are encouraged to increase production which means more jobs.
The timing of a cycle is not predictable; however the phases of a business cycle can be detected. Many economists refer to four phases—Upswing Boom, downswing, and Trough
During a period of upswing a rise in becomes evident. Employment, , and increase in the same way. Businesses take advantage of this phase by expanding. As the upswing continues, however, obstacles begin to occur that hinder further expansion. For example, production costs increase; shortages of raw materials may further obstruct production, rates rise; prices rise; and consumers react to increased prices by buying less. As consumption starts to lag behind production, the merchandise or stock that a store or company has on hand accumulates, causing a price decline. Businesses begin to reduce costs, workers are laid off. Such factors lead to a period of liquidation. Businesses become negative as prices and profits drop. Money is stored for use in the future, not invested. Sales of products drop and in the case of small independent businesses it could lead to them closing down. becomes widespread. A recession is in progress.
Recovery from a downswing may be determined by several factors, including the recovery in consumer demand, the exhaustion of businesses stored money, or government action to stimulate the economy. Although generally slow and uneven at the start, recovery soon gathers the power to increase or develop at an ever-growing pace. Prices rise more rapidly than costs. Employment increases, providing some additional purchasing power. Investment in capital-goods industries expands. As the state of economy increases, the desire to speculate on new business ventures returns. A new cycle is under way.
How the customer service function interact with internal functions
Within ASDA the customer service department will link closely with other functional areas. This is due to they are the main department that comes face to face with the customer therefore they have they real understanding on what the customers needs and expectations are. They gather this information through consumer feed back, which is then passed on to other functional areas. The main departments that the customer service team within ASDA liaise with are as follows:
- Marketing and sales department
- Production department
- Finance department
- Human resource department
Marketing and sales department
The marketing and sales department in ASDA will interact with the customer service function to inform them of customer research results and how the company may be changing certain procedures to benefit the customers and also about new products that they may be getting by consumer demand. The marketing department will also have to let the customer service department know when the new products are to be introduced. It is also the marketing departments responsibility to let the customer service function know about any special offers. When the customer service department are aware of the special offers it means they can announce it.
The customer service function will provide feedback to the marketing department on the customer’s views and opinions. Also if the customer service function requires more broachers or leaflets for in the stores they would contact the marketing department.
Production department
The production department may interact with the customer service department to let them know when a faulty batch of a certain product has been dispatched to their store or if they have been receiving complaints about a certain product they may contact the customer service department of a certain store to tell to take it off their selves as it could be faulty.
The customer service department may interact with the production department to alert them of any faulty products they have received in their store. This may have come to their attention from a customer complaint or from a member of staff noticing it. The customer service department may also interact with production if a certain product they have ordered does not turn up and also they may wish to find out product information therefore they will have to contact the production department.
Finance department
Within ASDA the finance department will work closely with the customer service function. The finance department will allocate the customer service function a budget for each year therefore it is important the customer service function uses it wisely. The finance department will also pay the customer service team’s wages and may also offer them incentives such as bonuses for meeting certain targets.
Human resource department
The human resource department in ASDA will organise training activities for the customer service team whether it be on the job or off the job training. They will also organise team building exercises. They will also make the customer service staff aware of any internal promotions. It is also the human resources departments’ job to discipline any of the customer service team if needs be.
How the customer service team interact with external customers
Within ASDA their customer service function puts a lot of effort in thinking on how they could improve their customer service in order to create a more competitive edge when interacting with the external customer. In order to do this there a many tasks that they are responsible for, these include:-
- Offering competitive prices
- Ensuring their staff are knowledgeable, friendly and polite
- Pre – sales
- After – sales
- Providing a credit facility
- Assisting customer with a special need
- Providing information
- Providing advice
Offering competitive prices
It is very important for a business that wants to dominate the market to have pricing strategies that will undercut their competitors. For example ASDA have a small number of well known brands at below cost price. Attracting customers to the store in this way, they will hope that they will buy many other items; this is known as loss leader. It works well in relation to good customer service.
Ensuring staff are knowledgeable, friendly and polite
As mentioned before it is essential that staff have good product knowledge in order to meet the customer’s enquirers. Also the customer service function within ASDA will ensure that their meeters and greeters are always friendly and polite as they will project the first image of the store on the customers.
Pre – sales
Pre – sales are a service that is provided before the customer buys the product. It is important that ASDA concentrate on offering good pre – sales to its customers as this may determine whether or not the customer will buy the product. These services will include pricing strategies, advertising, special offers and free samples.
After - sales
The After – sale of a product is also very important this is due to it may determine whether or not the customer may back to your store again. If they have received a bad after - sales service the possibility’s of them not coming back are rather high. The after – sale service includes several different types of activities such as giving refunds. It is important that ASDA have a clear policy on returned items. The main reason for this being is so that store can run more efficiently due to customer service staff our not frequently having to ask their boss for assistance or Clara-faction. The after sale service could also could also include dealing with customer complaints. Within ASDA the staff in the customer service function will be trained to handle complaints over the telephone and in writing, ASDA will have a specific complaints procedure that must be followed at all times to ensure that no serious complaints are left unresolved.
Providing a credit facility
Organisations allow other businesses and customers to buy on credit. However the credit terms that are agreed may vary from one customer to another. Businesses also offer credit on expensive items such as a car. If businesses did not offer credit on these types of items they may lose out on the sale as people may not have the money to pay for the product outright.
Credit that businesses offer can be obtained in three ways. Firstly, using a credit card to purchase an item is a form of credit. This is due to, the card holder can choose whether to pay off the full debt the next month or spread the cost over the next few months.
When you book a holiday you can choose whether you are going to pay for it all there and then or you can pay in instalments. This is also a credit facility that businesses offer. However when you use this type of credit facility companies may add an interest charge to the bill.
Also when you borrow money from the bank or take out a loan this is classed as a credit facility. Most car dealerships operate as an agent for a finance company and will arrange finance for you when you buy a car. Interest will be added at the applicable rate.
Assisting customers with a special need
It is particularly important that businesses offer services that will aid people with specific needs. For example businesses offer services such as brail guns, disabled parking and baby changing facilities. Businesses that offer these types of services have an edge of competitors that do not. If you refer to AO1 you will see that ASDA offer different types of services that will aid specific needs.
Providing information
Within all businesses you will find that the information customers require will vary quite dramatically, therefore it is almost imposable for a member of staff to know the answer to every question immediately. However it is the way that they deal with the query that is important. For example when dealing with the customer they should always have a smile on their face and if they are unsure of an answer they should promise the customer they will find the information for them as quickly as possible.
Customers may ask the following questions within ASDA:
- The location of another store
- About the general facilities available EG. Baby changing facilities
- About the range of products they supply. EG. Do they have an organic range?
- Or the customer may just have a general question about the organisation.
The customer service staff within ASDA should have information at hand about the range of food and the products they offer. The type of information they should know is where different products are located the availability of them. Within recent years computers have played an important role in assisting customer service staff and have helped the business as a hole run more efficiently. This is due to modern computer data base have a great deal of information available. They hold information such as customer databases which records their names addresses as well as details of recent purchases and amount paid.
Giving advice
Giving advice to a customer is in a sense like giving them information. However the information given to the customer is more precise. It involves more detail, a higher understanding and is tailored to the needs of the customer.
Within many companies they have special functions generally recognized as technical services. They exist, so a company can provide its customers with specific advice. They are generally found in industrial and computer companies.
Within ASDA they may have a function like this who deal with any quires they have on the electrical goods they sell such as TV’s and washing machines. The reason why they would have this is due to general shop assistance may not have the knowledge required on such products to help assist a customer.
Bibliography
GNVQ business intermediate caryforth,carol 1993 Heinmann