CUSTOMER SERVICE

What is Customer Service? Customer Service: handles company issues through: – Calling centers – In store/person – – Or on site technical support staff A companys ability to supply their customers wants and needs

Importance Customer Service is a priority to companies because of its: – Significance – Identification – Function – Publicity – Problem solving/prevention

Significance Important because it is often the only contact a customer has with a company – Customers vital to organization – Some customers spend hundreds or thousands of dollars per year with company – Issues with product/service they want solutions Example: HP

Identification Important because it can help differentiate a company from its competitors – Especially true for smaller businesses Example: Neighbourhood Coffee shop vs Tim Hortons

Function A company with excellent customer service is more likely to get repeat business from customers – Will benefit with greater sales and profit Companies with poor customer service may lose customers – Negative impact on their business It costs a company more money to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one – Advertising, sales calls, etc.

Publicity People who have a positive experience with a companys customer service department tend to tell others – Can be used as a form of promotion for the organization Same goes for a negative experience Who who share an example of a positive or negative example of customer service?

Problem Solving/Prevention Important because of potential complaints – Complaints about employees – Complaints about products – Complaints about services – Complaints about locations – Complaints about almost anything Customer service is required to solve problems, and act as a way to prevent any problems from occurring.

Feedback Cards Provides information to organization to gather information about their product/service, employees, overall experiences from customers

Feedback Examples

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The Customer Service Game Scenario A Your product is sold with 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. A customer attempts to return a product for a refund, saying he is dissatisfied with it. The product is showing a lot of wear, and you have no doubt the customer has received a lot of good use from it. What do you do to satisfy this customer?

Scenario B You receive a complaint about one of your products that didnt perform according to the customers expectations. Upon careful examination, you find the instructions in the box were for an earlier model of the product, which operates a bit differently. This problem was obviously caused by the manufacturer. What do you tell the customer? What do you do to satisfy the customer?

Scenario C A customer returns a product with which they are unhappy. You try to determine the reason, but they only make vague statements that lead you to suspect that they just want a refund so that they can go buy a competitors new product. What do you do?

Scenario D Your company has created a good product that is selling well. However, some users have found a way to modify the product for an alternate use that you didnt anticipate, which involves risk and danger. What do you do?

Scenario E You have an enthusiastic sales force selling your product, and the initial sales reports are impressive. You get feedback that some customers are not satisfied because the salespeople are making exaggerated claims about the product that are creating unrealistic customer expectations. What do you do?