Customer Service

Customer service (also known as Client Service) is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.

According to Turban et al, 2002 “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation”

Its importance varies by product, industry and customer. As an example, an expert customer might require less pre-purchase service (i.e., advice) than a novice. In many cases, customer service is more important if the purchase relates to a “service” as opposed to a “product".

Customer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means called self-service. Examples of self service are Internet sites.

Customer service is normally an integral part of a company’s customer value proposition.

Implementation of customer service

Customer service may be employed to generate such competitive advantage as a particular service proposition can be harder to copy for competitors.

The implementation of a particular customer service proposition must consider several elements of the organization.

Competitive advantage

A company may attempt to differentiate itself from its competition through the provision of better customer service. The consistent delivery of superior service requires the careful design and execution of a whole system of activities that includes people, technology, and processes; although, the rewards will include improved revenue from customers that are impressed with the service provided. The relation should not be only a buyer seller-relation but beyond.

Some companies do better than expected. In the 1980's, a customer called LL Bean and was surprised that he was greeted by name. The representative explained that AT&T provided Caller-ID service to all companies with toll-free lines (ten years before any phone company offered Caller ID to retail customers, and that Bean's computer had brought up the customer's record on her computer screen. She knew where he lived and what he had recently bought. If he wanted something new, she even knew the size and color to suggest. They also remembered the credit card number that had been used, although they could not be certain it was still valid. (In 2007, few companies can do as well. They commonly treat each caller as a total stranger, even if the person has been a customer for years, asking the same identification questions repeatedly, and remembering nothing. A person will be haphazardly switched from one employee to another and will be obliged each time to prove their identity and tell their story.) In some cases, a company will have two interfaces: during "normal business hours" in the vendor's time zone, the caller will reach the Customer-Service Department, which can take new orders, trace recent orders, and solve problems; a person calling outside those hours will instead reach a fulfillment house, often in another state or country, and able only to take new orders. In most cases, fulfillment centers don't even have catalogs for the many companies they represent. If a problem arises, the answer is "Call between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Eastern Standard Time."

Role of technology

Technology has made available a wide range of customer service tools. They range from support websites and the ability to have live chats with technical staff to databases tracking individual customers' preferences, pattern of buying, payment methods etc., and tailoring products and service responses based on this advanced data. Specialist software that is designed for the tracking of service levels and for helping recognize areas for improvement are often integrated into other enterprise operational software tools such as ERP software.

Many companies have started to use new channels to capture customer feedback. With record number of people now communicating through mobile phone and sending texts, many argue that the next wave of customer feedback will primarily be captured through channels familiar to most consumers, such as mobile email and SMS. This will enable companies to track the opinions of their customers much more easily and gain valuable insight into how to improve service quality and enhance the customer experience.

Accountability

Customers tend to be more forgiving of organizations who acknowledge and apologize for their mistakes rather than denying them. Taking responsibility for mistakes and correcting them is considered an important aspect of good customer service. When a customer experiences poor service and is ignored, the customer is less likely to return to that company again. Stonewalling is unforgivable, but unfortunately common.

Customer Perception

In the United States, Customer Service provided over the telephone varies widely in quality and particularly in the wait times experienced by customers. The extremely long wait times experienced when attempting to reach large companies is a common experience shared by many Americans, and often the subject of jokes and frustration. For example, the calm, cool analysis of customer service provided in this article would be scoffed at by many who have actually attempted to obtain such service.

Instant feedback

Recently, many organizations have implemented feedback loops that allow them to capture feedback at the point of experience. For example, one of the UK's leading coach companies invites passengers to send text messages whilst riding the bus. This has been shown to be useful as it allows companes to improve their customer service before the customer defects, thus making it far more likely that the customer will return next time.

External links

References

The Financial Times- "How to find out what's being said about you"

Service can refer to:

Public services, services carried out with the aim of providing a public good
A penetrant, as defined by a building code
Service (Systems Architecture), the provision of a discrete business or technology function within a systems environment; i.

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A customer value proposition is the sum total of benefits a customer is promised to receive in return for his or her custom and the associated payment (or other value transfer).

In simple words value proposition is what the customer gets for what the customer pays.
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This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .
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Competitive advantage (CA) is a position that a firm occupies in its competitive landscape.
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A company is a form of business organization.

Types

There are various types of company that can be formed in different jurisdictions, but the most common forms of company are:

a company limited by shares.

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People denotes a group of humans, either with unspecified traits, or specific characteristics (e.g. the people of Spain or the people of the Plains).

The term people is often used in English as the suppletive plural of person.
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L.L.Bean

private
Founded 1912
Headquarters Freeport, Maine

Industry Retail
Products Clothing and outdoor equipment.
Website www.llbean.com

L.L.Bean, Inc.
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AT&T Inc.

Public (NYSE: T )
Founded 1983^[1]
Headquarters San Antonio, Texas, USA

Key people Randall L. Stephenson, Chairman/CEO; Richard Lindner, CFO
Industry Telecommunications
Products Wireless, Telephone, Internet, Television
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worldwide view of the subject.
Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page.

For the protein involved in the synthesis of major histocompatibility complex II, see CLIP (protein).

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A fulfillment house is a company specializing in fulfillment services.

Fulfillment house overview

Fulfillment, also known as order fulfillment or product fulfillment
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Customer relationship management (CRM) is a broad term that covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, including the capture, storage and analysis of customer, vendor, partner, and internal process information.
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survey may refer to:

Surveying, the science of measuring positions and distances on Earth
Geophysical survey, a sub-surface or surface imaging survey
Hydrographic survey, of navigable waters

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A service system (or value co-creation system) is a configuration of technology and organizational networks designed to deliver services that satisfy the needs, wants, or aspirations of customers.
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Institute of Customer Service

Founded 1996
Headquarters Colchester

Website ICS

The Institute of Customer Service is the professional body for customer service which seeks to lead customer service performance and professionalism.
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