Customer Service

Week 1 Tony Hsieh Video

Tony Hsieh makes it clear that the best customer service delivers best customer experience. He says that the best customer service has enabled their online shoe and clothing shop to thrive in the past nine years. Offering efficient customer service protects the brand of the company thereby attracting a large number of people. The customers can also share information with others about the customer service. However, it is important to hire customer service employees who advance the company’s core values. Tony says that they try to make people understand their vision, which is offering the best customer service and best customer experience through interactions on various platforms.

Week 2 DQ1

Customer service can be defined as the act of offering the best customer experience during the process of interacting with the product by building effective communication with the customer. Customer service should meet the expectations of the customer. This definition is unique as it distinguishes the real service (intangible products) offered to the customer and the customer experience. The definition, therefore, emphasizes that customer service relates to the experiences that the customers go through while shopping, seeking guidance and clarification, purchasing. In addition, the whole process of offering customer service involves effective communication.

Week 2 DQ2

On one hand, some companies go out of their way to deliver superior customer service because they believe that success and sustainability on the market depend on the retaining customers because satisfied customers are likely to be returning customers. On the other hand, various companies consider customer service an afterthought since they are interested in short- term goals rendering it unnecessary to retain customers. Moreover, a company might lay emphasis on the profit and neglect customer service. However, research has shown that these companies do no survive on the market for long.

Week 3 DQ2

Continuous improvement refers to the continued process of offering consistent, innovative results to customers and the ability to respond to any emergent changes in the environment. Improvement involves processes such as upgrading technology systems, redesigning of processes or service, and streamlining paper work. A feedback loop enables the organization to determine the success of the process. Feedback also enables the company to make adjustments in their services so that it can fulfill the needs and expectations of the customers. A plan for continuous improvement has an impact on the customer service since it produces reliable information that can be used to transform the product or service into a higher quality. It is expected that improved quality of goods and services would result to customer satisfaction. It also helps in conducting general assessment of the service or product. Most importantly, the plan helps to measure short, intermediate and long- term outcomes, as well as offering information on equity of service, cost efficiency, and process measures. These measures are aligned to the customer service operations to improve customer service. Similarly, gap analysis helps to identify the effectiveness of the current operations and areas that the customers have expressed concerns as either a need, want, or expectation. The company, therefore, implements changes with the main focus on the customer.

Week 4 DQ1

Hudson Company invited me to offer feedback on the organization. As a professional obligated to adhere to ethical standards, I offered honest feedback on the performance of the organization. It provided me with an excellent opportunity to put into practice knowledge on customer service. I, therefore, felt privileged of such a wonderful opportunity granted to me. I suggested that the company should conduct a gap analysis in order to determine the areas of improvement and implement them according. It was clear that no feedback was gotten from the customers. As part of follow up activity, I have determined that the company conducted the gap analysis and it has improved the customer experience. I felt that my knowledge was considered beneficial. The feeling of value developed and when called up again, I will not hesitate to offer the advice.

Week 4 DQ2

Customer service can be considered as the process of meeting the customer expectations accordingly while customer satisfaction refers to the feelings that come after a successful customer service that fulfills its needs. Customer service is, therefore, the cause and customer satisfaction is the result of that cause. Both of these activities are equal and none of them can be considered important than the other.

Week 5 Bierka's Article

1. What are the advantages of mobile payments to the merchants and customers?
2. How do mobile payment methods amount to effective customer service?
3. Can a business compete favorably in the market by using traditional payment methods?

Week 6 DQ1

There is no sure way of handling customer complaints. Each complaint is unique and the personality of the customer is different as well. There are three elements involved in complaint handling. The first one is visibility, which implies that the customers should be able to trace and locate the complaints section easily. The most effective way is establishing Complaints and Information Center. The second element is accessibility, which means the customer should find it easy to launch a complaint. The organization can do this by providing toll-free number where they can launch their complaint. The last element is responsiveness. This implies that the complaints should not just be received or invited, but should also be acted upon as quickly as possible. The company can achieve this by answering to complaints quickly.

Week 6 DQ 2

The 3Es in Panera warmth represent Experience, Expectations, and Excellence. Such customer service mantra challenges the organization to offer services that meet the customers’ expectations. These models are also available to the small companies.