Female/Male
They will need products and facilities designed specifically for them. Asda sell goods that are designed specifically for men or women e.g. moisturisers and they also provide toilet facilities separately for men and women.
Socio-economic grouping
They will need products designed with there price range taken into consideration. Because some people do not have a large amount of money to spend on food they will need items at a low price, Sainsburys cater for this need by producing a low cost range of items called.
People at work (in a rush)
They will need ready to be consumed products grouped together for easy access. Because many people will visit Sainsburys during a lunch break or with little time to spare, Sainsburys have combated this problem by grouping items that are ready made together and by opening express tills so that people do not need to spend time queuing for a small amount of items
These are people who currently work for the company or have business links to the organisation. This group consists of
Colleagues
These are the people who work with directly with the company
Management
Most employees have a direct line manager in the organisation either a supervisor, head of department or manager.
Staff team
These people are groups of staff, which form a team to undertake specific functions or jobs. E.g. health and safety teams
Employees
If you are self-employed or own your own company you may employ people to work in your organisation.
Most valuable external customer
The most valuable external customer are the people closest to the store they are the most valuable because they are the people most likely to visit the store whereas people further from the store are less inclined to visit because of the travel.
What do customers want?
fig 1
Fig1 shows what customers are looking for from their shopping trip. One of the most important aspects highlighted is that customers want a good friendly service with friendly service providers, this is why Sainsburys must show good customer service because it is something the customers are looking for and when a customer receives bad service they are very likely to tell others who will then tell more and will ultimately lead to the company losing customers or missing out on potential customers that defer in to other stores where they have no knowledge of bad service.
Fig 2
Fig 2 shows a form of mission statement set by Sainsburys for its employees to adhere to and most of the aspects involved are to the customer, this shows that Sainsburys understand that great service and outstanding quality this help create success.
Attributes of the employee
Employees need certain skills to be able to provide a high standard of customer service. Workers must be able to be polite to customers because this will make the customers shopping trip more enjoyable so they will want to shop there again. They must also be quite articulate to communicate well with the customer so that the customers’ requirements can be dealt with quickly and effectively. Another required attribute is to keep calm in a pressurised situation this means being able to deal with complaints quickly and effectively without becoming emotionally involved which would dissatisfy the customer further and leading to a public outburst, which would give the impression of a bad environment to the other customers.
Consumer protection
The consumers of today need help to ensure that they get a fair deal when making an exchange with an organisation (whose main priority is not to look after the customer but to make a profit). Sainsburys protect its consumers in many different ways by using the laws set-up to protect the consumer. Sainsburys uses the Trades Description Act, Sales of Goods Act (1975), Supply of Goods Act (1973), Data Protection Act (1948), Supply of Goods and Services Act (1982) and the Sale and Supply of Goods Act (1994) and the Consumer Protection Act (1987).
The trade description act ensures the consumer that if a good or service is described falsely by Sainsburys then they are committing a criminal offence. So Sainsburys cannot say e.g. that their chocolate contains no fat when it actually does.
The sales of goods act ensures that Sainsburys must produce goods of ‘merchantable quality’ meaning goods sold must not be damaged or broken and that they are fit for the purpose they are being sold if a product purchased at Sainsburys is faulty it can be returned to the store exchanged for a working one or the money would be refunded.
The data protection act makes sure that any information regarding consumers is obtained legally by Sainsburys and is not then disclosed to others for any reason, which is not compatible for the purpose for which it is held.
The consumer protection act prevents sainsburys from making false comparisons (e.g. saying that a product costs £20 less than the recommended retail price when they are not) or stating that the price is less than the real price (e.g. not omitting the cost plus the vat). The act also states that the business will be committing an offence if they are found to be supplying goods of unsafe quality to a consumer.
All of these acts are in place to ensure the customers get a good deal when shopping. If Sainsburys does not comply with any of these acts they will face a big fine but also it will create bad representation of the company and will make people less inclined to shop there, this is made obvious in cases of where these laws have been breached and shown on television in shows such as watchdog almost immediately after they show companies experience legal intervention by e.g. the office of fair trading or drops in sales because customers no longer trust the company. When an item infringes on these laws the company must refund the customer or offer a replacement because they are obliged by law as it infringes on the customers statutory rights but when an item is returned with no malfunction the company will still exchange the item as good will e.g. a person buys a music cd but the person who it was intended for has already got it the person could take the cd back and exchange it for a different one of the same value or be refunded the full price or if an item of clothing was bought and then it was found not to fit the customer, Sainsburys would refund the customer or allow them to exchange it for one that does fit or offer store credit for money off on another item. Sainsburys and almost all other stores do this although they are not required to by law because they want to keep the customers happy and know that every customer is valuable. They also offer other types of good practice
Every company will show good practice at some point in their trading with customers and it is an easy way of gaining a good reputation within the public because they are not obliged by law to provide it but they still do to help the customer get a good deal and have a good shopping experience. Sainsburys also offer good practice in the form of showing the customer what they are paying for and to check how much the price of each item is by displaying each item name and price on a screen and the e.p.o.s (electronic point of sale). Another example of good will displayed by Sainsburys is that they will sell items that are nearer there expiry date or slightly damaged at a lower price and will clearly display the fact that they are near their expiry date or damaged so that the customer can make the choice of buying them whilst knowing what they are like. Also if a customer accidentally drops a product and it breaks anywhere in the store, including the car park, we will replace it free of charge. Sainsburys have many items on special offer that disappear very quickly from our shelves. Another example of good practice is if any customer wishes to buy an item on special offer but it is out of stock, all of their key staff would have vouchers which they can give to the customer so that the next time they are in the store and the item is available they can buy it at the reduced price.
Improving customer service
The most effective way of gaining the qualities needed to deliver a high quality of customer service is through training, which the company will provide and continuously update with training courses.
‘Delivering great service is a key objective of our business transformation programme and during the year we made great strides in retraining our colleagues to serve our customers better’ –quote from Sainsburys.
One-way Sainsburys can identify whether or not an employee is capable of supplying good customer service is through the application process. Every company has a process by which people are selected for a job and through their application form and 2 interviews they can see who is most suited to give a high standard of service. In the application form there is a test to see how well each applicant measures up and to deter the less suited. There is then a group interview; this is used to further filter out people who will not naturally make the grade. Those who impress in the group interview will progress through to a final face-to-face interview where the employer will present different situations to the applicant to see their natural temperament and communication skills. At the end of this process Sainsburys should be left with successful applicants who already posses some attributes needed to provide good customer service and Sainsburys can then refine their techniques and add additional skills through training. This rigorous process should ensure that the employee is capable of supplying great customer service, which will ultimately satisfy the customer. Another way that Sainsburys could improve there customer service is by introducing brail on cans and packets so that people with visual difficulties can still understand what each item is although this will cost money to implement on each item it will raise the profile of the store as a disability friendly company. They could also introduce a crèche which many top stores including Ikea offer, so that parents can have a hassle free shopping trip and they can pick their kids up later because there are a lot of people who take their kids shopping and have trouble keeping them under control so the crèche would allow them to drop their kids off and quickly shop with no trouble and then pick them up later this would also allow the shop floor to be hassle free for many other shoppers and may reduce breakages. I recommend this crèche because Ikea another well known company operate this with big success although it may reduce the influence kids have on the items bought meaning fewer sales for Sainsburys and it would also cost money for space people to run it and a tagging system to make sure that kids can be returned to the parents safely. Sainsburys could also introduce pharmacies into their stores in the same way that Asda do to dispense prescription n.h.s drugs, provide safe disposal of un-used medicine and for safe exchanges of syringes and needles. Another service Sainsburys could do is to introduce an audio magazine for people with impaired sight or reading difficulties, this is a justified suggestion because Tesco introduced this idea and won 2 prestigious awards. Sainsburys could also introduce eye testing which is currently available at some Asda stores but this would have to be done by a registered ophthalmologist or else customers are unlikely to trust them, this service will cost the company in wages and equipment but will add another service that customers will use which will mean they have the opportunity to shop around the store at the same time.
Appraisal of the techniques used in sainsburys for monitoring and improving customer service
The best technique that sainsburys or any company can use to check the quality of and improve customer service is customer feedback. Sainsburys obtain customer feedback mainly from their complaints/customer service desk, which is found in all of their stores where customers can make suggestions to the company without causing a disturbance on the shop floor. They also have a complaints page on their website from which the customers can voice their opinion of Sainsburys. Sainsburys have a free care-line that they can ring. In an average week Sainsburys receive around 50,000 customer contacts (2.5 million per year), mainly through their free phone Customer Careline 0800 636262 but also by post and e-mail. Simple requests like store opening times are dealt with immediately. One worker, specialising in that subject, follows through more complicated queries. Sainsburys aim to reply to a customer within five working days but complicated queries may take longer. Sainsburys also talk to about 600,000 customers a year, either individually or in groups, in over 3,000 individual pieces of research. Topics have included measures of customer satisfaction, monitors of product quality and brand image as well as specific research on packaging, new store layouts and effectiveness of promotions. In addition, Sainsburys make use of online data systems and they access desk research from sources like the Financial Times, Henley Centre, Office for National Statistics, Verdict Research and the Institute of Grocery Distribution. . Sainsburys also employ mystery shoppers to evaluate employee performance with an unbiased view they can then tell the store what hey think of the store by talking to the management who can then adjust the performance of individuals by retraining them in the areas that they did poorly in. Sainsburys market research team also covers the subject of disability in Customer Focus Groups which has lead them to be voted the best corporate chain store for commitment to providing better service to deaf-blind customers at the Deaf-blind Friendly Corporate Awards 2001.Sainsburys also won the supermarket category in the 2001 EASE (EASE of Access, Service and Employment) awards, which recognise companies and organisations which show good practice for people with disabilities.
These measures all ensure that the company have accurate information on how the customer feels about the service offered, and with the large amount of customer feedback they can effectively monitor and improve their customer service because if they can find a way to improve the service they give customers they will retain their current customers and gain more so new customers will mean new sales so this will result in a rise in profits, which relates back to the companies main aim of attaining the greatest market share which can only be achieved by having most customers. They also have weekly checks on the quality of their products and the safety of their store this task is carried by differing personel each time and they must fill out a checklist each time and a report if there is anything of concern. This in-built quality measure is a very good idea because it will make sure products are fit for their purpose which will keep the customers happy and will prevent any possible health and safety issues that could result in bad representation of the comany because of possible law suits . This quality system also benefits the customer because it will keep them safe from possible hazards to their health. They also regularly review their service to customers where they have meetings to disscuss their service to customers and how to improve it this is an excellent system because it will ensure that Sainsburys constantly continues to update their service to customers wich will ultimately result in more profit which is tha goal of every company.
