CUSTOMER SERVICE POLICY

CUSTOMER SERVICE POLICY

            In any business, be it small or large a customer service policy is very important. Firstly, it ensures any employee working within the organization clearly understands the positive outcome expected when customers are served consistently with same high quality of service regardless of the department the employee is working. Employees learn how to put the customer needs before theirs. Secondly, customers are able to understand what to expect from the organization in terms of service. An organization must therefore make sure that the customer service policy is easily available to its customers (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

There are several reasons as to why organizations use customer service policies. These reasons touch both on the customer side and employee’s side. This paper analysis the main 10 reasons (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Customer retention

Any customer who is already aware of what to expect from any organization has confidence in that organization. For instance,  a customer who has been assured by an organization  not to spend a lot of his/her time in the queue waiting to be served will stick to that organization  rather than shifting to any other  where he does not even know  his/her fate. That is customer retention (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Sustainable competitive advantage

A successful customer service policy acts as a support system to provide workers with unambiguous instructions to ensure excellence customer service. It states clearly how the services would keep the organization ahead of competitors by giving the customers more than they even expect and proactively determining their requirements and ensuring that they have minimal problems (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Evaluation of performances

A customer service policy measures employees’ success or failure. Employees are able to know what exactly is expected of them making it easy for them to deliver. It is not easy to put something into action unaware of the expectations (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Assist in training

A customer service policy outlines the rules and service training for the employees specifically and also across the whole organization. With the clarity it brings, employees are better positioned to perform the assigned tasks without ambiguity (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

To reduce staff turnover

Employees don’t undergo stress in attempt to realize undetermined goals leading to decline in turnover rate and enhanced employee satisfaction. The organization will have a set of workers as a result who assists it realize its goals within the framework that permits them to feel empowered (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Loyalty and sustained profitability

Customers spend their money and resources to the organization and that is a fact. They therefore expect to be respected and valued. Customer service policy outlines how this can be achieved. When customers feel important and valued in the organization makes them loyal and organization profitability is sustained (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Promotion of quality service

Customer service policy is the foundation for internal stability in an organization. This raises the levels of service and product quality, which in turn attracts investors and stakeholders willing to collaborate with the organization (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

To protect the organization

The future and security of any business organization lies on the hands of its customers. Customer service policy ensures that customers are satisfied and hence capture their loyalty. This ensures that the organization products and services have enough market. This is enough security to the future of the organization (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Increase staff empowerment and morale

Customer service policy gives the necessary guidelines to the employees on what is expected on their specific lines of duty while dealing with customers. This makes them carry out their duties without any doubt that they are doing it right as there is already a clear framework. This empowers them and encourage them by giving them confidence (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Improve customer service

Customer demands keeps on changing from time to time and this calls for customer service policy revision as well. The customer demands are therefore updated and where there are mistakes corrected. This means out of the updated policy the customer services which were not previously up to the level expected are improved and any new ones included (Kyj, 2013, p.225).

Evaluating the effectiveness of customer service policies is very crucial factor towards increasing the rate of growth of an organization. The evaluation will show how the already implemented policy influences the organization. There are always chances of misleading factors which may have more disadvantages than advantages for the policy.  It is therefore important for the organization to be revisiting the policy from time to time (Rinehart et al, 2012, p.63).

Evaluation of customer service policies is done for several purposes depending on the changes in the customer service demands. Here are three purposes commonly which prompt evaluation of customer service policies (David, 2012, p.47).

To make corrections where there are gaps

As the customer demands keep on changing, gaps are introduced out of the policy not covering all the customer service demands. Other service policies may become obsolete and therefore necessitating for evaluation in order to update the obsolete ones as well as including the ones which were not covered in the already existing customer service policy statement. When the gaps are identified, they are included into the existing policy statement. This acts a basis for staff training since they must be in a position to understand any new policy before they can be commissioned to implement (David, 2012, p.47).

To conform to changes in Law

Business policies must be always in line with the state law for them to succeed. When there are changes in the state law which makes the customer service policy contradict with the law, evaluation of the policy is necessitated in order to conform to the law. For instance, allowing customers to smoke in the hotels was one way to make them feel valued but this was banned by the state law considering its effects to those who don’t smoke. As one of the policies in the customer service statement, the statement had to be evaluated and the policy removed for the policy to conform to the state law. Staff training was therefore necessary for them to understand how to approach the situation lest it leads to negative effects on the organization (David, 2012, p.47).

To take competitors policies into consideration

Competition factor is very important in determining a business success. In order for a business to be in a position to compete favorably to the other businesses, it must ensure that the good policies adopted by the competitors are still in its customer service statement before it can think of more to outdo the competitors. It is therefore necessary to keep watch of the competitor’s policies to see whether there are any added advantages. If any, that calls for evaluation of its policy statement to include those favorable ones in its customer service policy too. The staff members are thereafter trained on how to implement the policy (David, 2012, p.47).

The importance of communication is very clear in our daily live bearing in mind that there is nothing that can take place without some communication method used to express ourselves for whatever the reason. In the business environment, communication is even more important as there are various parties involved ranging from stakeholders, customers, employees to media (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

There are three methods of communication which are oral, written and body language

Oral/ verbal communication

This is the most common form of communication. Whether it is passing information to friends or addressing a meeting / congregation, the skills are very important. It uses spoken word to inform the receivers on decisions or just provide basic information. The receiver needs to be attentive in order to understand what is being passed on and therefore this calls for cultivation of both speaking and listening skills (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Advantages of verbal communication

Since it’s interpersonal, there is a high level of transparency and understanding.

It is the best when it comes to passing private and confidential information in an organization.

Disadvantages of verbal communication

It requires high levels of attention and great receptivity when it comes to the receivers

It is less authentic when compared to written communication since it’s not organized as written communication

Written communication

Writing is very important when detailed information like figures and facts are to be provided. It is commonly used in organizations to send documents and other materials to stakeholders for purposes of future reference. Organization’s important documents such as minutes, memos and contracts are in this form of communication (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Advantages of written communication

It is a permanent means of communication and hence used where record maintenance for future reference are required

Written communication is more precise and explicit

Disadvantages of written communication

Written communication is time consuming as the feedback is not spontaneous

The encoding and sending message in this form of communication takes time.

Body language

Despite of the fact that the common method of communication takes place orally, when it comes to management techniques, the power of non-verbal cannot be underestimated. The smiles, body movements and gestures can easily send message to the people around any person. This should be taken with much importance especially while dealing with customers as well as employees (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Advantages of body language

Adds emphasis to the verbal method of communication

It is very useful especially in noisy environments

Disadvantages of body language

It does not follow any rules, formality or structure like the other methods of communication

There is a danger of miscommunication and distortion while using this method of communication.

Although customer’s perception of a product or a service is at least partially founded on his real experience with the product, significant market research’s suggests that its dependent on some other several factors (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Service quality

Even in the cases where organization products exhibit various flaws, excellent service quality overshadows the negative experience with the products. Consumer feeling of exceptional attention in support of a purchased product makes him change his perception and build a trust notion towards the brand (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Word of mouth

Depending on how a customer is approached and explained on a certain product, he may either positively or negatively changes his perception toward the product or service. For instance, a customer who is approached systematically and fully explained on certain service or product can easily be convinced and change his perception positively as compared to the one approached recklessly and not fully explained about a certain product or service (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

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Customers are more impressed by knowing the basic facts of a product or services when fully explained. Disclosing all the facts about a certain service or product including their negative effects without and the extent to which they will affect the customer can make them change perception other than not disclosing the negative effects. It’s therefore important to ensure that the adverts about a certain product or service are done exhaustively (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Final price the customer pays

Price is one factor which has a complex effect on consumer perception. Consumers will always appreciate it when they are allowed to bargain a product or a service to favor their economic status. Consumers on the other hand have the notion that inexpensive goods are cheap and discardable this can easily change their perception towards the product or the service which is cheap. Price should be made part of marketing plan where even the cheap services and goods are depicted as favorable options with similar quality levels to the competition (Pritchett, 2014, p.807).

Market research is used to refer to the process of collecting data about target audience. The main concept is to provide an organization with a comprehensive view of customers in order to be able to satisfy their needs (Malhotra et al, 2013, p.1208).

There are two main sources of customer information; primary search and secondary search.

Primary research

This search is carried out by the organization itself with an aim of collecting information to be used in order to improve customer services. It is also referred to as field research since it is undertaken right from scratch without utilizing any available information which may be available. Several methods are used to obtain information by this method; interviews, observations, questionnaires and surveys (Malhotra et al, 2013, p.1208).

Advantages of primary research

It is very accurate since data collected is fast hand

Data collected is specific since it involves organizations customers only and not general customers

Disadvantages of primary research

It is time consuming

It is very expensive compared to secondary research.

Secondary research

Opposed to primary research, this technique does not collect information from scratch. it makes use of  the already available facts on the customer requirements. It basically focuses on facts which have been already collected by other people and are available either freely or paid for. It takes into account many different sources such as newspapers, internet, magazines or office data (Malhotra et al, 2013, p.1208).

Advantages of secondary research

They are quick to obtain

No need for analysis since they are already analyzed

Disadvantages of secondary research

The information is generally available to the competitors hence can’t be used as a competitive advantage

There is no control over the quality of this data as it is the case with primary research.

Work cited

Kyj, M.J., 2013. Customer service as a competitive tool. Industrial Marketing Management,          16(3), pp.225-230.

Rinehart, L.M., Cooper, M.B. and Wagenheim, G.D., 1989. Furthering the integration of marketing and logistics through customer service in the channel. Journal of the Academy     of Marketing Science, 17(1), pp.63-71.

David Gefen, C.M.R., 2002. Implementation team responsiveness and user evaluation of customer relationship management: A quasi-experimental design study of social    exchange theory. Journal of management information systems, 19(1), pp.47-69.

Malhotra, N.K., Birks, D.F., Palmer, A. and Koenig-Lewis, N., 2003. Market research: an             applied approach. Journal of marketing management, 27, pp.1208-1213.

Pritchett, D.M., International Business Machines Corporation, 1998. Communication system and methods utilizing a reactively controlled directive array. U.S. Patent 5,767,807.