Customer Service Framework And Its Implications For Corporate Performance

Importance of Customer Service in Corporate Performance

Customer service may be considered to be one of the most success-critical aspects of the business. An efficient customer service planning and policy sets may significantly help the management of a company to attain its desired long-term goal of user satisfaction and thereby sustainability of the business in most time and cost-efficient manner.

In the current paper, the researcher has identified the customer service framework of Manawanui Ltd and its various facets to analyse and assess their respective implications on the overall corporate performance of the company. The customer service program is important to maintain a good relationship with the customers of Manawanui Ltd. The user manual of customer service will help the reader to answer difficult questions, treat gently and fulfil the expectations of the customers. While reading the manual, the IT support team should focus on understanding the importance of customer’s needs, maintain the time of reverting customer’s queries through online and through verbal and collecting the valuable feedbacks of the customers.

The customer service manual is useful for every level of employees includes IT, team and non-IT team. The upper-level managers need to provide satisfying services to the clients, external stakeholders and investors of the company (Chao & Shih, 2018). The viewpoint of the customer regarding the software and hardware of the company will be modified according to the services they get from the front line IT support managers of the company (Chi et al. 2018). For ensuring customer satisfaction, employees need to have a better understanding of products such as software and data-capture devices; communicate with proper tools i.e. company’s applications; predict the demand of the customers and handle customers with a positive attitude.

• Optimize Agent Training: agents should understand the expectation of the customers before reaching to them
• Choosing the right tools: should have needed software while meeting the customers
• KPIs of call centre: the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be listed properly to measure the effort of service provided (Cruz & Wang, 2018).
• Keep track of the experience: previous interactions regarding support request and events with the customers using emails, chats, phone calls and social media should be personalized
• Data-driven decision: use reports and metrics to come to a strong conclusion
• Quality assurance (QA):practice the QA to improve the service quality and efficiency and reduce the time waste.
• Provide support on different channels:customers prefer the way of getting support through email, phone, chats and social media

The IT support team of Manawanui Ltd is responsible for providing solutions regarding software and hardware devices and resolving tickets and documenting of the customer services. The LAST model of customer service is best suited for the IT support analyst of this company. LAST stand for:

• Listen: need to listen first before giving any solution
• Apologize: whosever fault is that, always apologize to the customer for the problem that had to face
• Solve: try to solve the problem arise
• Thank: thank in the end for becoming our customer

Greeting customers  

When a customer reaches the office or communicates any employees through different channels, there should be a welcome procedure that will greet the customer.

Interaction practices

The customer service team should practice how to interact with the customers. When a customer reaches to the office, the front line team should understand the mood of the customer and interact according to that (Loving, 2019). With a polite nature, you have to ask “how can I help you”. First, need to listen to all the queries they have and then try to solve their problem.

Customer Service Manual for Every Level of Employees

Acceptable wait times  

Sometimes it takes more time than usual when there are some technical faults in the medical devices or hardwires. While it takes time to solve the problem there should be someone with the customers so that he does not feel bore and keep him engaged (if he is interested) by showing other services of the company.

How to deal with customer complaints (LAST Model)

• Listen: keep patient in listening to the orders and queries of the customers. All the orders and queries regarding buying any devices or taking service of any previously taken procedures should be crystal clear to the analyst before providing any solutions (Prasad & UpendraSastry, 2019). It is better to keep the patient and understand the customer’s need than to provide the wrong solution in a hurry.
• Apologize: either the fault is yours or not, always apology for the difficulties that the customer had to faces. As a representative of Manawanui Ltd, your communication with the customer results in keeping the customer with the company or not. Customers always get melted while hearing “I am so sorry” from the company’s side (Rihova et al. 2018).
• Solve: solve the problems either form the office or if possible then from the customer’s address. After hearing an apology, they always need a solution in the last.
• Thank: if any customer finds any technical issue in the devices they are using, then they won’t want to take another device from us (Scott et al. 2018). Therefore, thank them for choosing us and then solve their problems and request them to choose us again.

When and how to escalate issues

There are sometimes when it will be necessary to escalate the issue to the higher-level manager. When there are no technical faults but customers are raising issues as they are not satisfied with the results then it is required to escalate the issue to the higher level (Senarath et al. 2019). The contacts of the customers whose issue are provided are also given to the higher-level managers.

If a customer has taken any products of Manawanui Ltd and he is not satisfied with it and wants to return it, then the amount should refund to his account immediately.

• Customer’s previous enquiry report
• Database that maintains the list of the purchases done by the customers
• Specifications of the products such as the medical devices both hardware and software and technical tools
• Digital business tools such as social media, emails, etc.
• Information of sales regarding the software, hardware and different technical services

Part A

“OK, No issues; however, going forward please avoid last minute intimation as it affects work planning. Get well soon. See you tomorrow, Des.”

Part B

 

Part C

In the aforesaid meeting, both the parties should be heard of at first and the issues should be identified. The issues so identified may be categorised to be of two types. If it is behavioural issue, the same should be resolved either by way of mutual transfer between departments or may be through an amicable settlement and negotiation. In short, the same may be handled by joint consultation between HR manager and operations manager of the organisation. This is an example of efficient interpersonal skill by way of teamwork. On the other hand, if it is technical issue, the same may need to be resolved by the team leader along with the HR manager. In case of technical issues, the technical expertise is needed to assess the issues and thereby put forward the probable resolution. As a result team leader will be required to be present and actively involved in such resolution process. The interpersonal skill that may be relevant here is listening.

Part D

To

Tracey Arnold

General Manager Manawanui Ltd

Hello,

Hope you are doing well!

First of all, let me convey my sincere apologies to you for the unwanted incident and consequent inconveniences that may have occurred at your end, due to the event.

We may have missed your call and hence, I would personally like to assure you that within a day one of our representative will reach out to your place and do the needful.

I admit the fact that there has been disruption from our side, in terms of service offering and I, personally, would like to compensate the same by giving an additional warranty of 2 more months for the item so ordered by you.

Thanks

Part E 

I would like to undertake a thorough study on the customers’ order placing call and subsequent delivery by the delivery personnel. Last three months’ report I will examine to assess the reasons for non-delivery or delayed delivery and attempt to resolve the issue either by way of employing more workforce in delivery segment or supervision level for the entire task and coordination between teams.

References 

Chao, M., & Shih, C. T. (2018). Customer service-focused HRM systems and firm performance: evidence from the service industry in Taiwan. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(19), 2804-2826.

Chi, N. W., Yang, J., & Lin, C. Y. (2018). Service workers’ chain reactions to daily customer mistreatment: Behavioral linkages, mechanisms, and boundary conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), 58.

Cruz, J., & Wang, H. (2018). An Examination of the Lean Leadership Practices in the Supply Chain Management. Available at SSRN 3135595.

Houston III, L., Grandey, A. A., & Sawyer, K. (2018). Who cares if “service with a smile” is authentic? An expectancy-based model of customer race and differential service reactions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 144, 85-96.

Loving, V. A. (2019). Enhancing the Value Chain to Increase Customer Satisfaction and Build Successful Breast Imaging Practices. Journal of Breast Imaging, 1(1), 56-59.

Prasad, K. R., & UpendraSastry, S. (2019). Information Technology And Customer Service in Banking Industry-A Study of State Bank of Hyderabad. ITIHAS-The Journal of Indian Management, 9(1).

Rihova, I., Buhalis, D., Gouthro, M. B., & Moital, M. (2018). Customer-to-customer co-creation practices in tourism: Lessons from Customer-Dominant logic. Tourism Management, 67, 362-375.

Scott, C., Lundgren, H., & Thompson, P. (2018). Guide to Customer Service in Supply Chain Management. In Guide to Supply Chain Management (pp. 175-187). Springer, Cham.

Senarath, N. G., Zhang, H., & Vrzic, S. (2019). U.S. Patent Application No. 10/200,543.

Zungu, N. P. G., & Lekhanya, L. M. (2018). Service Quality of Public Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges in South Africa: Customer Expectations and Perceptions. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 10(6), 182-190.