The company believes that once a customer purchases a product from the business and thinks that it was at a low price and also sees that it is at good quality, with excellent service provided when they bought the goods. The customer will tend to come back to purchase more goods and also the customers may tell their friends and families about the prices and quality of goods and service that Richer Sounds provide, this will benefit the company, because they will be getting continuous new customers, that is if the customers are fully satisfied with the quality of goods and services.
The importance of customer service
Gaining and retaining customers-
Customers are what makes a business successful, obviously, and they bring in all the money for the products sold. How many customers they get alter weather they will make a profit or a loss in a certain time period and without their customers they would always be in the “red” and end up loosing their business.
Providing information on the product in use-
Some stores set up dodgy prices or sale signs showing only a minor detail of what is actually happening, for instance on a car it could read on the sign, “5’000 OTR”, but what it really could mean is a £5’000 deposit, and most customers don’t like that kind of misuse of authority and will spread the news about the company not being trustworthy, and this also could lead to a business, going out of business.!
Gaining customer loyalty-
Loyal customers are always welcome. They are the type of customers who may be willing to pay a bit extra for good service and are willing to keep coming back to the same store to purchase similar products. This is good because if your business has been a bit slow on checking out other companies prices, and they are lower than yours, the loyal customer may still buy the product from that store as it has a better customer service.
Increasing sales revenue and profits-
Sales revenue and profits are always a good sign of a successful business and with the profits made new stores in more locations can be built, or old stores can be expanded to stock more items.. Also a wider range of products can be sold and with the extra money the business can take a few investment risks.
Helping to increase market share-
Market share is a good way to prove to your potential customers that you are in fact better than most other business, this is of course only the case if have achieved a high market share in the first place.
Improving the businesses image and reputation-
As with all good reputations, whether within a business or a person comes fame and popularity with other people. This means that a business with a good reputation will find it a lot easier to retain and expand on the number of customers currently buying their products than a business with a bad reputation. We, as customers are always looking for the bigger better picture and usually we look first in shops that look like they make good money and quite often we would buy it there first anyway so image is very important.
How richer sounds meet their customer expectations
Good value products-
This requires doing a lot of market research as richer sounds customers are expecting cheap prices whenever they can get it. This means that they will have to spend a lot of time going on the internet and into warehouses to find out where they can bulk buy the cheapest products, to keep their selling on prices low.
Rapid response to enquiries-
Keeping response times quick to all inquires, from over the phone or on the desks is very important as this could make the difference between a sale and a loss of a valuable customer. To do this they may have a whole team specialising in enquires only and a separate teams for income phone calls or e-mails.
Clear honest information-
No customer wants to shop in the store in which the signs have been deliberately set out to wrong foot the customer or to send them down the wrong path in to think that a product is cheaper then what it really is. So they need to periodically check all; sale signs encase an old sign has been left out by accident misleading the consumer.
Information about suitable products-
This would require well trained staff in a certain area of product ranges to increase the knowledge that the customer will receive, and to be able to choose the exact match for an individual customers needs.
Help with individual or general issues-
Again this would also require specifically trained staff to be able to tend to individual needs, but for the customers general inquires, it would be recommended to give them the basic information on all areas and set up a certain area with a networked computer ready to lend a hand on more complicated matters.
Care and Attention-
This may entail employing more experienced, and self controlled staff who can control their emotion under the most pressing of circumstances and will not jump out shouting, or start talking down to the customer, making them feel unwanted and not cared about. This may lead to the loss of valuable custom.
After-sales service-
This is extremely important as dealing with repairs or faulty goods in an improper manner could lead to an angry customer, so it requires a trusting trained employee who knows all the details on the particular businesses money back or any other guarantees or warrantees. .
Consumer protection
Consumer protection legislation is a group of laws passed to protect consumers from unfair practices by businesses. There are a number of laws or acts, as they are more commonly known, passed in each section.
Health + Safety-
- Health and Safety Act, This is the national law to protect everyone by adding the data labels, like danger, warning, or dangerous chemicals etc.
- Food and Drugs Act. This is the law that prevent certain substances from being used in the produce of food. It also stops the selling of food in unhygienic areas.
- Food Safety Act. This is an expansion of earlier laws passed, that prevents the selling of a poor quality product. This not only goes for restaurants, but for farmers and raw materials as well.
- Consumer Protection Act. One of the newer laws passed mainly to prevent business from cutting corners in safety areas, and make the business 100% liable for harm caused by their product.
Sale of products-
- Sale of Goods Act. To make sure that products are undamaged and in perfect working order, this act was passed. It also insures that the product in question will do exactly as advertised. For example, bolt cutter must cut bolts to its specified standard.
- Consumer Credit Act. This prevents the business from being able to charge ridiculously high interest rates on any type of loan scheme they have when a customer buys a product.
Labelling of products- I consider this to be the most important as this can cause a lot of pain or even death to certain people, like nut allergy suffers, if it is not carried out correctly.
- Labelling of foods Regulations. This states that all food produce must be labelled in detail about the contents of ingredients in the product, and in the UK also involves any product containing more than 1% of genetically modified food to be clearly marked.
- Weights and measures Act. This is a basic information act, simply showing the weights and measurements of food contents.
Misuse of information-
- Computer misuse Act. This is an important security measure stating that only specified people can look at confidential information about the customer which is stored on the computers.
- The Data Protection Act. Another Major security law passed to keep businesses from sharing the customer’s personal information to other businesses. Also it states that the customer in question should be able to view all of his/her details and change them if they are incorrect.
How well are richer sounds customers protected by consumer law?
Richer Sounds’s customers are protected by a number of acts and laws to keep them well protected. These acts include…
- The health and safety act- to protect customers and employees alike from harmful gasses or dangerous chemicals.
- The sales of goods act- to prevent any selling of a poor quality or damaged items.
- The consumer credit act- to stop richer sounds from over charging customers in interest.
And finally
- The data protection act- to prevent the misuse of customer’s confidential information and to ensure the safe storage of it.
Customer Service introduction x
Internal customers x
External customers x
The importance of customer service x
Gaining and retaining customers x
Providing information on the product in use x
Gaining customer loyalty x
Increasing sales revenue and profits x
Helping to increase market share x
Improving the businesses image and reputation x
How richer sounds meet their customer expectations x
Good value products x
Rapid response to enquiries x
Clear honest information x
Information about suitable products x
Help with individual or general issues x
Care and Attention x
After-sales service x
Consumer protection x
Health + Safety x
Sale of products x
Labelling of products x
Misuse of information x
How well are richer sounds customers protected by consumer law x
