To sum up with we have two types of customers in an organization and they are
After knowing your customers, the next thing is to think about your products and services. For example, if you are in retail on the shop floor, your main customers are public; the services you personally offer include providing information, taking orders, taking payment and wrapping goods. Some of your internal customers could include the cashier, for whom the service you offer is cashing up the till.
Having identified your customers and the nature of the service or product offered, the final crucial question is how well you do it – what is the quality of the customer care you are providing at the moment? There are usually four crucial elements involved in delivering quality customer care:
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Appropriateness: is your service/product what the customer actually wants – does it precisely meet their needs?
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Consistency/reliability: is your service/product of the required standard all the time?
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Timeliness: do you provide your service ensure that it is a good experience for the customer, example, are you friendly and helpful, do you show interest and concern?
Customer satisfaction:
In order to improve an organization’s standard of customer care and to achieve customer satisfaction all staff must be aware of the customer care policy and why it is an essential part of the operation of the company.
In the following scenario Happy Valley, a leading visitor attraction in Bournemouth, organizes a training program to induct new members of staff in the organization’s customer care policy and to reinforce the policy to existing members of staff.
Happy Valley has devised its customer care policy to try and help the attraction achieve a number of objectives, as illustrated in fig.
Elements
Of Happy
Valley’s customer care policy
Happy
Valley’s
Objectives Reduce staff turnover
Felling valued Job satisfaction Increase sales to
Receiving value for money Possible benefits customer
Increased profitability
Repeat business
Enhanced reputation
A satisfied customer is one who is happy with the product or services they have purchased and the way in which they have been dealt with by the staff providing the service. Happy customer are those who have received the following treatment:
- Accurate information about the product/service has been provided.
- The customer feels that value for money has been provided.
- Courteous and prompt attention has been provided.
- The customer’s desire for that particular product/service has been fulfilled.
Customer service may also be achieved through the provision of advice or help following a complaint or a query. After receiving this information or advice the customer is happy that his or her needs have been met.
Encourage Repeat Business
Customers remember how they have been treated by an organization. If they feel they have been treated well and leave satisfied, they are likely to return. If they feel unwelcome, have to wait too long or find that they are not getting what they expected, they are likely to go elsewhere.
Effective customer service can help organization to:
Gain repeat business-by encouraging customers who have used a product or service to do so again.
Keep customers-by encouraging customers to feel a sense of trust in the organization, or loyalty to it, so that they come back again
Customer service standards
A key ingredient of providing excellent customer service is the need for standards. There are broadly two types of standards: operational and competence.
Operational standards- they tend to specify what to be done or said, for example:
Receptionists wear name badges and are encouraged to smile and make eye contact with guests as they approach the desk and use their names whenever possible.
Telephones should be answered before the third ring, with a greeting followed by the name of the hotel or the internal department.
Competence Standards – Competence standards are designed to describe the action an individual needs to follow to perform a task competently; they specify the ‘how’. Fir example, to present a positive personal image to customers, one should:
- Always treat customers in a courteous and helpful manner, even when you are in stress.
- Consistently maintain standards for appearance and behavior.
- Ensure equipment and supplies used in transactions with customers are available, up to date and in good order.
- Actively seek opportunities for improving working relationships with customers.
- Ensure own behavior consistently conveys a positive image of the organization to current and potential customers.
As we summarize this chapter we notice that customer care management policy is needed to have organized way of treating customers and to satisfy their needs whether it is small or big.
Exercise 2