In the context of customer care, quality refers to the provision and reception of services that conform to the needs, expectations and specifications of the customer. Service quality is largely all about the customer’s point of view in regard to how well or badly they are served. In this regard therefore, there is said to be quality in service provision when customers are dealt in a customized manner. And this is mostly achieved by a firm when its mission, vision and values are geared towards the same goals of listening to each and every customer needs, and consciously aiming at dealing with one customer at a time.
There are a number of standards for the provision of services to the customer, which include but are not limited to the following: .Speed standards- this this has to do with how fast a customer can be served. It has to do with the waiting period from when the customer requests for a service to when he/she obtains. .Transparency standard- this is involved with how open, genuine and honest service providers are in the process of customer care. The lesser the time, the higher the customer provision will be ranked, and vice versa. .
Accessibility standard-such things as sources of information regarding a firm, the ease of access to the services and costs for it need to be made available to the customer at all times .Friendliness standard- this has to do with how nicely the customers are treated. Though this cannot be measured numerically, every service provider needs to go an extra mile, yet within the confines of professional code of conduct to be gentle and nice to the customers at all times. .Efficiency standards-this involves the ability of the customer provider to strike a balance between the speed of service provision and accuracy. Efficiency will be rated highly if errors are minimized and vice versa.
Setting of the customer care standards and expectations. There needs to be a clearly understood point of reference. This can be in form of a list of minimum expectations or a non-written code of conduct that has been taught and adopted into the cultural system of a firm. This helps deal with uncertainties regard what is best meant for customers and what is undesired. As such, the standard must be made available to all employees. 2. Employees need to be treated well. Employees that are well treated will be highly motivated. This will ultimately lead to them giving their all when serving customers. The reverse is true for maltreated employees who may end up lacking the desire to work on achieving organizational goals, among which is customer care.
Equality in employment opportunity legislation will ensure equality in competition for jobs. in the long run, only competent employees will be chosen,who will ultimately provide above average services to customers. on the other hand, when employment is based on bias, sometimes incompetent employees may end up employed and offer substandard services. as such there is need to initiateand encourage the application of legislation on equality in emplyment to reduceor eliminate sidelining or discrimination of whatever nature.
Anti-discrimination legislation is very important as far as employee motivation is concerned. With such legislation, people are employed based on their capabilities and not on such things as race, gender, and political affiliation among others. When there is an assurance that people are hired, promoted and fired based on their performance and not through bias, they will motivated to give their best.
It is common knowledge that people tend to work harder so they reap better results in the future. When it will be clear promotions are done based on performance then there will be a motivation for people to work harder than when the means of promotion are based on bias. Conversely, when there is discrimination, those employed through biased means will work for ever with a haunted spirit that they really did not deserve their jobs. On the other hand, the customers will seek the services of firms with pre-formed opinions, which will most likely be negative (Noe, 2012).
Consumer protection laws are laws put in place to provide guidance on how customers are to betreated.it provides for all the rights and obligations of a consumer. When there are strict laws governing how customers are to treated, customer service providers will always want to abide by those laws. It is an open secret that everyone fears to face legal litigations and problems with customers and/or the state. As such, the main drive here will be the need to conform to law. On the other hand, a country operating on no or dysfunctional customer service laws leaves the customers to the mercies of the service providers. This way, the service providers may find it easy to maltreat their customers without fear of any consequences, for they may not be there in the first place (Ardic, 2011).
Privacy legislation places an obligation on the service providers to keep secret all the personal information and opinions that the customers may produce to them during the service provision exercise. At times, since firms would like to provide customer services to customers, they may require to get personal information from them, whose handling can be very crucial as regards the future of the firm. When customers know that their privacy is guaranteed to some level, they will be more willing to offer as much information as possible.
This way, the service provider gets an opportunity to understand the client better, what thing lead him to offering them with customized service. The reverse is true when they are not sure of what will happen to the information they leave behind. That feeling of insecurity will most likely cause them to offer limited information that may render it hard for the services to be delivered to them. (Wang, 2010).
Industrial relations legislation is responsible for maintaining a cordial relationship between employers and employees, outlining such things as conflict resolution means, obligations, entitlements and other issues relating to the parties. When there is proper legislation in this respect, there will be higher employee motivation. Consequently, the employees will seek to do their best in a bid to either maintain or seek promotions in their workplaces, what thing will trickle down to service provision and delivery.
However, poor industrial relations will be responsible for unrests, industrial strikes and wrangles which lead to reduction in employees’ morale. This will as well trickle down to customer service delivery. demotivated employees will not find it easy to offer quality services to customers in environments characterized with abuse, mistrust and constant wrangles with employers. (Batt, 2012).
Work health and safety legislation provides guidelines the protection and upholding of the physical health and safety of both employers and employees. It is common knowledge that everyone would love to work in an environment of minimum risk and where there can compensation in case of accidents. This legislation provides for what is likely to happen to the parties in question in case of life threatening incidences they may have to face while at work.
For instance, health practitioners who provide health services are at a great occupational risk of getting diseases while at work. Proper legislation provides that they be insured. That has an implication that in case of a disease, the government guarantees that it will take care of their medical bills and arrange for their treatment. Such legislation provides motivation to the employees, making them offer all that is within their abilities. On the other hand, working in an environment that is silent on such legislation, making them deliver substandard services.
There are a number of environmental issues facing various firms. They range from such things as public health, deforestation, water scarcity and conservation and waste disposal among others. There are laws governing these issues.at times, the service providers are torn between satisfying the needs of the customers and keeping the laws. For instance, there are countries where polythene bags have been banned. It becomes a challenge to service providers to package such things as liquid beverages.
On one hand is a requirement to keep the environment clean and on the other is the desire to leave the customer satisfied and contented. Unless there are clearly understood laws there can be confusion in this area. As such, the laws dealing with environmental issues need to be known not only by the service providers but also the customers to reduce wrangles and enhance understanding between parties involved in the process of service provision (Kassinis, 2013).
Code of practice refer to the rules set up and either written or communicated orally, which dictate how employees are to conduct themselves while providing services to their customers. They are responsible for guiding such things as time management, discipline and the general behavior of employees. When the relevant codes are effectively communicated to the employees, there are chances of having coherence, consistence and uniformed behavior. On the other hand, their absence results in people acting as they please, resulting in services that are mostly sub-standard.
Some of the techniques related to customer behavior include all those factors that affect their decisions to make some buying choices. As such, there are two major techniques: One has to do with the psychological factors, wherein such things as are need to conform to some social class, people’s attitude and their beliefs among others. Another set of factors has to with economics, wherein are such things as people’s levels of income, availability of commodities in the market and government policies on taxation.
There are a number of techniques that can be used to determine customer needs, key among them the following; 1. Interviewing various partakers in the firm, beginning from the employees all the way to the customers. This will help understand what each of these stakeholders needs. Letting the employees express their opinions and desires will greatly help them feel as part of the firm leading them to work with motivation. 2. Analyzing competitors. It is prudent to study what competitors in the industry are doing as regards service provision. This will provide insight to the firm in question on where they may not be doing right which will ultimately lead to improvement (Witell, 2011).
Public relations are key to the wellbeing and development of a firm in terms of customer service provision this is because it helps enhance a firm’s credibility. This happens through its ability to communicate with the outside communicate through such things as corporate social responsibility, efficient and timely customer care and adherence to laws and regulations of the countries in which it operates.
Maintaining a constantly acceptable public relation with the outside world is key in customer service given the assurance it gives to the customer on the firm’s commitment to remain loyal to its customers. Conversely, a poor public relation image is a discouragement to potential and current customers. Not many customers can be willing to seek services from an unreliable firm (Keller, 2013).
Product promotion simply refers to the efforts put in place by a firm to advertise their services, commodities and other goods in the market and seek to maintain their perpetuity in the market. Product promotion is relevant in customer service for a number of reasons, most importantly being that it actually introduces a customer to the firm. Secondly, product promotion is such that it will facilitate entry of information on the goods to the market. This will ultimately lead to customers having up to date information on the products of a firm, making them want to associate themselves with the firm in question. It is important to note that even in general, product promotion helps a firm get more successful in its areas of operation.
There is no absolutely right way to handling customer care. However this procedure can prove instrumental if looked at objectively and with a clear mind. When handling customer complaint; 1. Take time to study carefully what the actual problem is. Gather all the information that may be needed. 2. Then seek clarity from the customer whether the problem at hand is exactly how you have understood it 3. be empathetic with the customer while maintaining a high level of courtesy 4.
Argue objectively, avoiding by all means confrontations and laying blame on any party 5. Find out the responsibility of the firm in relation to the problem at hand 6. Find out if the case can be handled immediately or it should wait for some other time, and act appropriately. False promises should be avoided at all costs. 7. Seek to know if the customer is satisfied with the solution. If not, suggest alternatives to the customer. 8. Acknowledge the customer for trying to find solutions as amicably as they would have done. 9. Follow up on the business to avoid recurrence of similar incidences that may affect service delivery (Tax, 2010).
How to deal with the complaint There in need to first keep record of all complaints raised against BizOps Enterprise.Complaints are acknowledged with customers in time, usually within five days of working The customer that receives the complaint investigates the problem at hand to establish its credibility.In the case of failure by the employee to resolve the matter, he is supposed to forward the matter to their seniors.The steps taken to resolve the matter at hand are recorded accurately on the customer complaint formCustomers are informed of the results of their problems.
Some of the records to retain include:
The customer complaint form;
The customer feedback form and;
The document holding the steps to solving the problem.
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