Customer service is a service provided to
the customers before, during and after a purchase, which means to follow up and
give support to the customers during their interaction with the company. Some
state that the most important thing about the
sales is getting the customers satisfied so that they would return and make
another purchase. The customer service plays an important role in every company, because without
customers, the business would not be profitable. That is the reason why
customers support should be seen as an integral
part of the company, not only an addition to it.
As the studies show: “Happy customers who have their issues resolved tell between 4-6 people
about their experience. Meanwhile, a dissatisfied customer will tell between
9-15 people about their experience - and about 13% of dissatisfied customers
tell more than 20 people about their poor house experience, according to the
White House Office of Consumer Affairs.” (http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/g/custserv.htm).That confirms
the importance of a good customer service that gives an experience, which meets
customers’ expectations. People tend to share and remember the negative
experiences better than the positive ones. So the bad customer service can
cause complaints, a bad marketing, and the loss of existing and future
customers, because they might take their business to competitors. There are
many ways of satisfying customers and improving their relations and experience with the business, for example:
·
Good communication
·
Maintaining the
contact
·
Providing help to
reach the goods and services
·
Simplifying the
contact with the business
·
Creating a good,
up-to-date database about the customers
·
Adding something extra
(e.g. free delivery, discounts)
·
Improving the
company's image – a well- organized,
customer-friendly service has more chances to get more customers
Customer
service can also influence the customer willingness to pay for a product. This
is the case with businesses like a real estate
agency or a second-hand car retailer, where the
price can be negotiated. Satisfied customers are often willing to pay more than
the others. For small businesses that knowledge is crucial. That is because
they’re so small that they have to have a good opinion and satisfied customers
to maintain them and attract the new ones. If they don’t provide the support
that customers expect, they won’t be able to survive for long. The customers
will simply turn to their competitors.
When
working in a company that sells products, like a shop, a good customer service means
that the customer can get all the help he need while purchasing products. The
first contact is the greeting after the entrance to the shop. Customers value
nice and smiling personnel. During the stay at the shop, clients may require
help in finding products or the right price. Quite often the salesperson
receives remarks about the quality of product, so that he/she can handle all
the problems as they come. In a shop, a customer satisfaction is also dependent
on the efficiency of the cashier desk and the waiting line. The more your
customers have to wait, the less satisfied they are.
(Source: http://www.highlandretailacademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Strand-1-Serving-a-customer.jpg)
While dealing with online services and purchases,
different things have to be taken into consideration in order to satisfy
customers. On the websites, the clients are looking for user-friendly design
that is simple and easy to read and find relevant information. Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) is an important part of the page, because this is the first
place where customers are looking for solutions to their problems. The
information that should be visible and easy to access is: price, product
specification, delivery time, payment method and return policy, so that the
customer has the most important information that he is looking for. Many famous
sites like e-bay.com or amazon.com have a very good customer service. Their
web-design is user-friendly, with all important data visible and they have a
big data base about the customers that makes the repurchases easier. For their
clients it’s important that they can contact the business through e-mail or
telephone and get the support they need very quickly. The part of customer
service is also maintaining the contact by sending for example newsletters with
new offers, sending out the surveys to existing customers about their current
satisfaction level and processing the feedbacks about the service, problems and
possible improvement.
(Source: http://docs.polishedgeek.com/wiki/download/thumbnails/1146902/where_on_ebay_main.jpg?version=1&modificationDate=1335091269000&api=v2&effects=border-simple,blur-border)
Another
business that is using different customer service approach is service industry- customers are
buying the services like hairdresser, dentist or cleaning service. To satisfy a
customer, the business has to be easy to contact and provide a good quality
service. The first step is to acknowledge the customer: pick up the phone or serve
a customer at the service desk. At the hairdresser, the customer satisfaction
is dependent on the quality of the service, the interaction with the
hairdresser and the overall atmosphere. To make clients feel more welcome some
salons are offering free coffee, cakes and magazines for people who are waiting.
The customer service in that kind of business line means providing customers
with something extra as they are waiting, making a friendly atmosphere, being
respectful and listening to customer’s wishes.
Based
on the description of three different businesses: an ordinary
shop, an online shop and a service provider, we can see how big part the customer
service plays
in the business. People don’t always realize that customer service is a process
equally important to sales or production. A business can’t run for a long time
without loyal customers that will make repurchase, recommend company to friends
and spread the positive experiences.
Questions:
1. What are your experiences as a customer? Have you ever expirienced any unusulal, bad or good service that you can remember?
2. Do you agree that customer service is an essential part of every kind of business? Do you have any customer service-experience from your job?
3. Do you know any business companies that can improve on meeting customers' expectations?
1. What are your experiences as a customer? Have you ever expirienced any unusulal, bad or good service that you can remember?
2. Do you agree that customer service is an essential part of every kind of business? Do you have any customer service-experience from your job?
3. Do you know any business companies that can improve on meeting customers' expectations?
Comments
Great examples of decent customer service comes from Apple at Apple Stores. There's always someone to assist you at those stores and in case your new computer ceases to work for whatever reason you can just bring it and they'll give you a new one - no questions asked.
Another good example is Starbucks - the baristas are trained to be friendly and polite to customers which makes Starbucks a very positive place to go wherever you are. Those people don't earn lots of money, so it means that trainings and being able to convey proper vision to your employees is crucial.
Customer service affects peoples' choice, and poor customer service can mean that a person will never use services of a company that provides poor customer service.
Personally I stopped going to a restaurant that I quite enjoyed due to certain poor customer service issues there. My whole company changed a Hotel chain of choice just due to the fact the hotel made some less customer friendly choices in the highest business packages they are offering. Things like those affect a lot and the general feel a company presents to the customer is usually a "make it or break it" thing for a lot, if not most people. Customer service is a critical part of it.
2. I agree that it's essential. Customer likes to feel special, taken care of. I'm selling clothing, and the way that I'm gicing it makes all customers happy. Because it's a small buisness, I don't have lots of customers, but they come back :)
3. Lots of'em. But It would take too much time to write all of them down :)
From my own experience I can tell you about customer service in America. My phone broke I give it to repair and thought that I'll have to wait and wait, as in Poland and in the end I'll find out that it was my fault. But I was wrong and instead of waiting two weeks I got a new phone immediately with apologies that this situation occurred.
This is very interesting topic. As a customer my experience are very different. i had some good and some bad customer service experiences. I remember that once in the bank PKO i was served by a woman who said to me that she is not able to help me because she don't know how to do that particular job. And that would be nothing annoying if not the fact that I was waiting in the queue for like 2 hours. SHe simply asked me to come in another day. Hoping that someone else will be able to help me. Eventually I came back and they resolve the whole thing, however I waste a lot of time trying to do something that all the bank staff should be able to do.
2. Do you agree that customer service is an essential part of every kind of business? Do you have any customer service-experience from your job?
I totally agree that it is crucial for business to make their customers happy. Usually the contact between the business and customer is made by customerservice, good impression and happy customers could decide feith of the company on the market.
3. Do you know any business companies that can improve on meeting customers' expectations?
Yes... PKO and "Poczta Polska"!
@Patryk Długaszek I think a canvasser usually has a bad reputation. I am not a fan of that kind of selling. I'd rather check all the models of interesting me item myself than listen to a man who's work is to be convincing. In any shop a salesman would tell you about few models than praise one. Even if I was to finally buy the item from the canvasser I still like to have a choice.
@Wiktor Liszkiewicz Long queues are one of the factors that creates bad memories. And an unfortunate solution of the problem makes it even worse. "Poczta Polska" has indeed a horrible image. Long time to wait, lost packages.. I started to avoid their service when I saw two old ladies at a Post Office opening packages and searching for valuable things when they thought no one was watching them.
I have a lot of experiences in this topic. Most of them are very positive but I have one that is bad – it is connected with Ispot. I crashed my ipad by accident so I went to the Ispot to get some advice what to do next. They must have taken it because it was under a warranty. A week later they caled me and said that my device was back. I was really surprised when they informed me it was destroyed much more. I was told that it was my fault. Coming to the conclusion with the service lasted more than one month. Their approach to my case was really negative. Finally I received a completely new ipad but I had to pay one half of the price.
2. Do you agree that customer service is an essential part of every kind of business? Do you have any customer service-experience from your job?
From my point of view it is essential for any bussines. Not only to make customers happy but mainly to be a good bisnessman it doesn’t matter if you a owner of a business or if you are a representative. It is necessary because customer’s attitude is also connected with the next orders, payment, in fact the existence of any business. On the other hand he relationship between service and custumers is a kind of vicious circle.
3. Do you know any business companies that can improve on meeting customers' expectations?
Yes. Ispot, Poczta Polska and a lot small companies.
Many start-ups leverage their position against large companies by providing extraordinary customer service. I've heard of cases where each client would receive a hand written letter of appreciation. Satisfaction is not just about selling a product but also selling the whole experience surrounding it.
As an example of how important customer service is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AUem1CduKc.
So far, I've had very decent experience as a customer. I order expensive items usually through the internet so my contact with companies is limited. I have occasionally been frustrated by badly designed websites or constant emails after the purchase. I switch companies often. Once I find a product to buy I simply pick the most convenient method of delivery and the most competitive price.
2 Good customer service I think is the key to success, because a satisfied customer is able to buy more and more pay. I work in the IT sector and have a large customer contact. I believe that a good and reliable customer service can provide us as already mentioned success.
3 Yes of course, for example. poczta polska, t-mobile, every hospital institution.
Customer service is an essential part of every kind of business indeed. Person, when choosing the product, often follows the feelings. No one will not return soon to the store where it was badly treated. A great example are clothes stores - the well-known brands and high prices - the consumer has to feel good about the purchase. If the service would be uncomfortable purchase probability decreases.
I often use Dell support and I must say this is the best customer service I ever used. For them there is no problem that cannot be solved. Technical knowledge is another aspect :) but still they are really trying hard to meet client expectations.
2. Do you agree that customer service is an essential part of every kind of business? Do you have any customer service-experience from your job?
For me customer service is crucial part of business because how people will look at the company depends on it so bad experience with customer service = unhappy client = no profit
3. Do you know any business companies that can improve on meeting customers' expectations?
There are a lot of companies which should improve their customer service. Few were mentioned before: poczta polska, netia.