Executive summary

AkzoNobel Pakistan Limited

ICI Paints is a brand of LOreal group and it comes under consumer product division. Its products include hair color, hair care and skin care. Under skin care category ICI Paints launched their new BB cream for females. It was the first one to launch BB cream in the world. ICI Paints officially launched BB cream in Pakistan on 13th March 2013. Currently, the sales of BB cream are not performing according to the expectations of ICI Paints. In order to identify and analyze the reason, focus groups were conducted. Many differences are found between the ideal offer that consumer desires and the current offer of ICI Paints. Since offer consists of 4Ps and S, the element of service is missing which is considered to be one of the major factors of this issue. The establishment of customer care center has been provided in the recommendation. Also, the necessary steps that are important for the development of this center are highlighted. Apart from this, the time and action plan is also prepared in order to develop the customer care center.

AkzoNobel Global

AkzoNobel is a leading global paints & coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. Calling on centuries of expertise, we supply industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products and sustainable technologies designed to meet the growing demands of our fast-changing planet. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, they have approximately 48,000 people in around 80 countries, while our portfolio includes well-known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International and Eka. Consistently ranked as one of the leaders in the area of sustainability, we are committed to making life more livable and our cities more human.

Akzo Nobel Pakistan

Previously known as ICI Pakistan, Akzo Nobels first started business in Pakistan in 1973. Akzo Nobel was the worlds leading paint manufacturer with stringent checks to ensure quality and ethical standards in all areas of its business. Moreover, Akzo Nobel claimed to be a compliant company abiding by the laws of the country that it operated in. The company annually underwent internal audit conducted by independent auditors in order to check for compliance and highlight areas or practices that were not in accordance to the laws of the country. An example of such compliance was the company practice to not produce yellow paint, as it could not be manufactured without adding lead to regular chemicals. Lead was harmful to health.ICI paints aims to delight and inspire customers to transform their surroundings at home and work with performance products and colors. With some of the worlds top paint and decorative product brands, serving both the professional and Do-It-Yourself markets, ICI Paints has products to prepare and care for all building materials.

Pakistan Paints Industry

Akzo Nobel faced competition from both multinational players like Kanzai and Nippon as well as local Pakistani paint brands like Berger, Nelson and many others. This made the paint industry heterogeneous in terms of code of conduct. International players were monitored and governed by the parent companys rules whereas the local players had more freedom to make and follow their own rules. Although there was a regulatory setup in Pakistan to ensure ethical code of conduct, the enforcement was not very strong. For example, sales tax and excise duties were regularly paid by global players but frequently evaded by the smaller local players in the market. The paint industry in Pakistan operates both in the organized as well as the unorganized sectors. There are a total of 22 paint companies in the organized sector with four multinational companies operating namely ICI Paints (Akzo Nobel Pakistan Limited), Berger Paints, Kansai Paints and Nippon Paints. According to the latest findings of Federal Bureau of Statistics, around 30,000,000 liters of paint was produced from 87 units (organized and unorganized sector combined). The organized paint sector is represented by Pakistan Paint Manufacturers Association (PPMA).Paint is categorized in two broad classes: Water based paint Solvent based paintThe industries also produce a wide range of finished and intermediate products which include pigments, distempers, plastic emulsion, enamel, undercoat, primers, rubber paint, aircraft paint, marine paint, anticorrosive paint and anti-fouling paint. The demand for paints is derived from expansion in construction, building, manufacturing, transport and other sectors. The country has yet to go a long way in its development efforts with a huge potential for further strides in the countrys paint industry. Like many other industries in Pakistan, the paints industry constituted an organized and an unorganized sector. Market ShareICI Dulux being the largest paint manufacturers has the largest holdings. It has 30% share in the paint industry in Pakistan. The company has seen a considerable amount of loss in the market share over the period of time owing to weak company policies as well as increased competition from foreign brands and more competition entering the market. The market dynamics is shown in the figure below. Nippon Paint is an international brand Japan and Nelson Paints is a local brand with majority of the share market in Karachi. Berger Paints has seen a constant decline in market share as well. Although the overall share market for ICI Paints has declined over the years, the company still is the market leader in the Premium Paint Market Industry where it has placed its Dulux Brand effectively.

*The above figures have been taken from the company Mahin Hassan at AkzoNobel Pakistan Limited ICI Paints Brand Activation Manager South. The company engages in regular market research practices.

Paint manufacturing was a simple process. Various colour formulations could be achieved by mixing different chemicals. A one room space of reasonable size was enough to set up a small paint plant. The challenge however came in quality management; maintaining consistency in shades of one colour produced in different batches, was difficult. This problem was faced by all paint manufacturers but was a difficult challenge for players of the unorganized sector. Owing to low entry barriers, the unorganized sector was vast and comprised of over 2000 different brands ranging from regional players like Nelson in Karachi, Corona in Hyderabad and Happilac in Faisalabad to shop owned brands. The shop owned brands were mostly unregistered. As a result, a paint retailer (referred to as a dealer from here onwards) became a manufacturers customer as well as his competitor. The unorganized sector had grown exponentially and in some regions commanded the leadership position. Nelson, for example was a leading paint brand in Karachi. Although international players had regional alignment in their brand management strategy, a reasonable amount of freedom was allowed to localize the offering in a particular market. In 2010-2011, the paint market in Pakistan went through a downhill trend whereby the industry sales shrunk by 15-20%. Experts from the industry believed two factors to be major contributors to this occurrence: overall decline in new construction and an increase in the repairing cycle[footnoteRef:1] that moved from every 3 years to every 5 years. Both improvement in overall paint quality and deteriorating economic conditions were deemed to be the reasons for the repairing cycle to increase. [1: Repairing cycle is the average number of years a customer takes to repaint his house. ]

Marketing Strategy SegmentationICI Paints has two product lines:Dulux Line (D-Line) : PremiumNon-Dulux Line (Non-D): Non-premiumThe Target Market consists of two types of customers: Quality Conscious (Upper Class or Elite Class) Price Conscious (Upper Middle Class and Lower Middle Class)For quality conscious customers ICI Paints offers D-Line products or Dulux and for price conscious customers ICI Paints offer Non-D products. This aspect tells us about the difference between luxury and need. In terms of the service, ICI provides service primarily to the premium customers at its color studios. The quality conscious customers visit the studios and ask for the expert advice, get the paint made at the premises only and take it away with them. Although, the company does not refuse users of Non-D products to visit the store, the POST machine at the studios is develops only D-line products. Hence this service is targeted towards SEC A.To cater to the upper middle class and lower middle class, ICI Paints uses its color schemes service. The sales promoters visit the customers residences and after making them choose a reasonable color, the sales promoters align them with the closest dealer from where they can purchase Non-D products. ICI paints has authorized dealers in all cities of Pakistan and they carry all types of stocks D-line as well as Non-D.To further segment, the products and services are directed at: Painters Painting Contractors Architects Construction companies Consumers Consultant and Design EngineersServiceApart from the products, the company provides two services that differentiate it from its competitors. There is an ICI Color Studio present in every major city of Pakistan Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The main purpose of such a color studio is to provide customers specialized services about color selection, help them decide the colors, resolve their problems and also with the help of POST machines, the company is able to make any color the customer wants in any quantity from the 2000+ colors available in the company shade card. The POST machine is situated at the back side of the studios and there are special pigments in the POST machines that help make any color the customer demands be it water based or solvent based. ICI Paints offers a color palette of more than 6000 colors. The customers can simply walk in and be transported to a wonderful world of color. At ICI the employees job does not stop at merely supplying the paints: is important to them as it is to the user that good results should be obtained from their products. They set great value to their technical Service Department, which is staffed by individuals of wide practical experience in the use of paint under all conditions. This experience is readily available to paint users requiring advice and assistance in the choice of paint to the preparation of painting specifications. The color studios have graduates from top Pakistan art schools as employees to help the customers. Many Indus Valley graduates are hired to provide this service and transform peoples lives.The second service ICI Paints provide is of Color Schemes. Many people are still unaware of this service. Any customer can call the company and ask to send any representative to the customers residence. The sales promoter will be responsible for taking pictures of the house from inside as well as outside and will ask the customer what are his/her color preferences. The pictures will be processed using a special software and the customer will be provided with pictures of the house painted in the asked colors. This service is free of cost and helps the customer in having a better idea of what color combinations would look good. The color code and product code of each product is given and stated below each picture which allows the customer to order the right product from the shop. Further, they are also advised on the amount of paint required by the customer so that the right quantity can be purchased. To utilize this service, anyone can dial 0800 - Dulux or visit www.icidulux.com.pk.NicheThe specific service the company provides is: Advisory and consultancy serviceTarget customer: Color Studios: SEC A - Upper Class or Elite Class, architects and home owners, quality conscious customers.Color Consultancy Scheme - Upper Middle Class and Lower Middle Class, painters, etc, price conscious customers.ProductsAkzoNobel Pakistan has three product categories: Decorative products Industrial products Refinish productsI will be covering the Decorative product range for my project.

ICI DuluxDulux is their flagship brand that has earned its reputation based on its consistent ability to outperform both competitors and the expectations of its consumers with its product quality and innovation through cutting edge technology. The companys customers are their motivation and they strive to enrich their lives in any way possible. Product range includes: ICI Dulux Pentalite Classic ICI Dulux Inspire ICI Dulux Light & Space ICI Dulux Pentalite Emulsion ICI Dulux Matt Enamel ICI Dulux Gloss Enamel ICI Dulux World of Weathershield

The breakthrough technology of ICI Dulux Weathershield Sun Reflect keeps exterior walls up to 5 degrees cooler (may vary on selected shades) The ICI Dulux World of Weathershield range comprises of the following products:

ICI Dulux Weathershield Sun Reflect ICI Dulux Weathershield ICI Dulux Weathershield Exterior System Primer ICI Dulux Weathershield Exterior System Putty ICI Dulux Woodcare System

ICI Dulux range also features a complete Woodcare System which provide technically advanced undercoats and topcoats that offer a beautiful and luxurious finish that helps to maintain, protect and beautify wood. Woodcare system includes the following products:

ICI Dulux Woodcare Woodshades ICI Dulux Woodcare Sealer ICI Dulux Woodcare Lacquer and ThinnerPOST (Point of Sale Tinting) ServiceICI Dulux Point of Sale Tinting (POST) service offers over 2000 shades available all over Pakistan at over 100 designated dealer outlets. Simply select a color of your choice and the Post will mix it up for you instantly.

Paintex RangePaintex is their value for money brand that caters to consumers who aspire to bring home results that offer value at its best. At AkzoNobel Pakistan they want to provide customers with an opportunity to enjoy the finer things in life at a reasonable cost. Paintex range includes: Paintex Emulsion Paintex Hi-Gloss Paintex Putty Paintex Ultra Prime Paintex Duraguard Magik Range

CompetitionBerger Robbialac a direct competitor of ICI Dulux has positioned its paints against most of paints of Dulux.DULUXBERGERDulux Plastic EmulsionVIP Plastic EmulsionWealthershieldVIP WeathercoalMatfinish VIP All RounderDulux enamelVIP Super Gloss enamelPaintexEazy clean EmulsionPrimerVIP Plastron Wall Primer ScalerMaxiliteS.P.D

PositioningICI Dulux paints are positioned as premium high quality paints. They have the slogan."Lets Color"

InnovationDulux is renowned for its superior quality and in Pakistan too, its quality is the best. Continuous product research and development, with input from vast international laboratory network, backed by consumer research (finding out what customers need and want) keeps them above the competition.

BrandingThe company's trade name is combined with individual name of the products e.g.Dulux OnceDulux Synthetic EnamelDulux Pearl GlossDulux Primer OnDulux Weather shield had become so popular that "Weather shield" has become a generic name for weather protective paints. They also have their special colour and brand codes.

PackagingThe paint is available in plastic containers ( Dulux Pentalite Special Plastic Emulsion, Weather shield) as well as Tin containers of different sizes.Almost all the packaging is done at its production site in Lahore.

Product DesignA change in the product design is the available of perfumed/ fragrance finishes of which has attracted those customers who get irritated by the smell of the paints and solvents e.g. Dulux Pentalite Natural Whites. But there are no continuous changes in the product design.

ColorICI Dulux offers a wild range of colours as that is the soul of the paint. They have developed beautiful shades and shade cards. Dulux Master plate plastic Emulsion has 2000 shades and has huge beautiful shades card which is itself very expensive.

QualityICI Dulux does not compromise on quality. About 995% of its raw materialis imported and a strict check on quality is maintained. It is because of its high quality and durability that people buy it even at high prices and it has captured 70% of the market share in Pakistan.

PricePricing Objective:The obvious pricing objectives of ICI Dulux areMaximization of ProfitsTo achieve the target return and targeted salesMaintain the Market share.Pricing MethodThe pricing method adopted is profit based. A target about the profit percentage is decided, after assessing the net cost, profit is added to it to determine the price. Since ICI Dulux are the Market Leaders they can easily manipulate prices. The changes in the prices are decided in the Head quarters and the dealers areinformed 15-20 days before the price are actually increased. This strategy has a dual effect, on one hand the price are increased and on the other it helps in blooming sales. It acts as a promotional tool because dealers pick up their stock with no delay and they purchase more than the usual bulk. It is also beneficial for dealers because them they sell their old as well as the new stock on the latest high prices and hence receive a greater profit.

Place / DistributionThe distribution system of ICI Dulux is Dealer oriented. It has a wide network of distribution throughout Pakistan but all the distribution is done through dealers. ICI Dulux has its own warehouses and godons andfrom there the products are directly transported to the dealers who ultimately sell them out.Therefore the "Distribution Channel" of all sort of paints isCC

ProducerDealerConsumer

DealersICI Dulux has certain requirements after these requirements are fulfilled a dealer is registered and is legally allowed to start the distribution.Special accounts with Dealer's Code (DC) are opened in the computer;A promisery Note is signed;Dealers have to sign a blank cheque for security;Dealers have to submit a copy of their Identity Card (ID card) and a few more documents;After this they are registered as ICI Dealers.Most of the distribution and trade is done on cash. Lahore and Karachi are advance payment markets where as Multan and a few other small cities have a credit market.Transportation from Lahore i.e. the production site is done through trucks and railway. Transportation within the city is done by trucks in large cities and by donkey carts in smaller cities. Even in Multan most of the transportation is carried on the donkey carts.

PromotionAs ICI Dulux has a diversified market it has to use a number of promotional Tools.AdvertisementTelevision AdvertisementIt is a very expensive tool of promotion but it is worth it. ICI Dulux though still advertises through Television commercials but it has reduced its intensity. They just use it to create awareness among their target market about a certain productand try to highlight its main selling features.

Radio AdvertisementIt is a relatively cheaper source of advertisement and due to the channel FM 100, the number of listeners has increased. Therefore Dulux finds it effective to communicate with its customers through radio.

Print AdvertisementA substantial pairt of Dulux's total promotional expenditure goes under this head. Approximately all the good and standard magazines carry the advertisement of ICI Dulux

Point Of Purchase AdvertisementMany color cards, brochures and other informative material is available at dealers shop along with the product itself in attractive cans. The dealers display contest is other kinds of advertisement. New dealers are registered where intensive contraction is being done.

Out Door AdvertisementIn outdoor advertisement Dulux mostly uses sign boards and they are placed at busy areas where maximum people can see it.

Personal SellingFree Dulux Color Advisory ServiceThey say "for our valued customers, expert help is available through a creative colour consultancy service provided free of charge. Our colour Advisors would be available to develop innovative colour schemes to bring out the best in your home."This is the most important promotional tool and helps to generate maximum demand. TTF (Trained task force) is a trained mobile team whichreaches at the place where construction or revocation is being done, just on a single phone call. They sometimes reach at the point of construction or renovation with our being called and give the customers free advice. Another mobile service available is the LCA ( Lady colour Advisory Service)where innovative and creative ladies give advice about the colour scheme of the house.If the customers have any kind of problem or complaint the mobile teams are always there to help them.

Sales PromotionSales promotion is also a very important promotional tool used by Dulux in which different short term and long term incentive schemes are offered to the dealers.Sometimes the company provides the dealers with extra discount if they sell upto or more than a target amount preciously decided.Dealers are sometimes also given small incentives like T-shirt, wall clocks, folders, brochures, pen holders etc in return of the sales promotion.

Who are the customers for ICI Paints?

Color StudiosAt the studios, the customers are provided with tea and drinks. They are asked to sit at the couches present and make an informed decision. They are also made to sit at the computers to manually select colors and see which one will look good. They are also given the option of having pictures taken of their houses or rooms and let the experts apply colors using the software. After the color is selected, they are taken to the production room near the machine (if the customer is willing to see the process done) and the color is made within 5 minutes. At times there are delays because of back log of orders or improper bases of colors used in the production. After the transaction is done, the product is kept in the customers car. If the order quantity is large, the company arranges a Suzuki to deliver the products. If the customer is also in need of a painter, the ICI Paints recommends good painters and provides them with their contact details however the company does not take any responsibility of the painters.Color Consultancy SchemesThe sales promoters visiting the houses are employees of ICI Paints and are properly dressed and provided with proper training in how to speak and handle the customers. The pictures of the exterior and interior walls are taken according to the demands of the customer. The pictures are provided to the color experts at the company the following day and in case of emergencies, it is delivered at the same day. The color experts take 3-4 days to complete and the same is delivered to the customer in a special folder.The service characters include:Color StudiosPeople & Things orientation: Properly dressed employees with a clean studio. Availability of shade cardHigh Tech: Availability of POST color machine to manufacture paint in 5 minutes Personal Interaction: Greet and meet the customer and provide solution in very little time Time involvement: 5 minutes in paint manufacturing Location: located in DHA Karachi and DHA Lahore to cater to SEC AComplexity: Very simple discuss, agree, manufacture, problem solvedNumbers served per transaction: 1 person takes roughly around 20 minutes at max (many)Training: Regular training of employees every monthSupervision: RSM supervising activities via security cameras and personal visits

Color Consultancy SchemesPeople & Things orientation: Properly dressed employees, availability of shade cards, decent accent of employees and polite way of responding to the customer requestsHigh Tech: Availability of camera to take pictures of wallsPersonal Interaction: Greet and meet the customer and take pictures with proper angleTime involvement: as long as it takes to take pictures of all the walls in a proper angle with appropriate lighting Location: anywhere in the city sales promoters travel on bikes to housesComplexity: Simple customer calls company, sales promoter arrives, pictures taken, color scheme is received in 4 daysNumbers served per transaction: OneTraining: Regular training of employees every monthSupervision: RSM supervising activities via spot checks

A table would help to depict the characteristics of each service better:Comparison of characteristics: Color Studios vs Color Consultancy SchemeICI PaintsColor StudiosColor Consultancy Scheme

People and ThingsMore PeopleMore things

High TechHiHi

Personal InteractionHiHi

Time InvolvementShortLong

LocationOursTheirs

ComplexityHiLo

Number served per transactionManyOne

TrainingMuchMuch

SupervisionMuchMuch

Assess the Service Silhouette and perceptions of customers.A service silhouette is the customers perception about the service from the very beginning. These are formed by the customers before they make use of any service and before any image can be formed after a successful customer-service interaction. ICI Paints is a multinational organization with operations is many countries around the world. It has many processed placed within the organization to ensure that the products and services are of top quality. ICI paints aims to delight and inspire customers to transform their surroundings at home and work with performance products and colors.With color studios and consultancy services present in the different areas, ICI Paints sponsoring several campaigns and ICI Paints good quality advertisements on television have helped form a good image about the company, its products and services. To determine the same, there are different parameters and I would be using my own knowledge, opinion and discretion to assess the service silhouette. I would be using evaluating both the services together:1) How do the customers see the purpose of the services: See the service of great value if utilized well2) How necessary are the services?: For all those people who are constructing new houses, it is extremely necessary for them to have these services. The house owners would be in a better stage to make decisions accordingly. It is also quite necessary for people renovating their houses. There is no harm when these services are being provided for free3) How important is it?: These services are important for all the people in the house construction phases4) How are results viewed?: When the customers problems are solved and provided with good advice on colors, the customers are satisfied and they believe that the service has contributed positively to their problems. However if the services failed to provide solutions, then the services are likely to provide negative contribution to the problem solution.5) Perceived cost: These services are free of cost there is no perceived cost other than the time involved.6) Perceived risks: Risks could be of purchasing wrong products not what was recommended because of miscommunication or incorrect product code on color schemes.Perception of customersCustomers' Perception is affected by: The Service Characteristics Their Wants and Needs Their perception of the Service Silhouette DeterminersThe service characters and perception of service silhouette have already been discussed. Customer needs and wants have also been discussed how they want appropriate advise on color selections. However, these can be further divided into the following three categories: Psychographics (Social habits, preferences, expectations, attitude, beliefs, values ) Demographics (age, gender, education level, Income, family size, location ) Organizational culture (Social habits, preferences, expectations, attitude, beliefs, values )All in all, the customers perception about the services is good and they believe it adds values and provides positive contribution in their lives.SWOT Analysis:Following is the SWOT analysis of ICI Paints:Strengths:1. It is using natural and organic ingredients in its all products.2. It has strong presence in developed emerging markets and has strong brand name.3. It also has strong R&D capabilities.4. It has high number of variants according to the different needs of their target market.5. It is the highly popular brand due to advertising and marketing.Weaknesses:1. It has high prices as compared to the other available brands.2. It entered late into Asian markets due to which it has lesser market share.3. Since people have different skin type and hair type therefore it product might not suit people with sensitive skin.Opportunities:1. The demand for natural ingredient products is increasing.2. The consumer lifestyles are changing due to which their needs for these products are increasing.3. The beauty products market is growing with a significant rate.4. It can introduce the skin care products and shampoo in smaller size packaging.5. It can introduce more varieties in product due to different skin type and hair type of consumers.Threats:1. It is facing high competition from Unilever, Avon and P&G.2. The price competition among branded manufacturers is high.3. The cost of switching personal care brands for consumer is very low.

Customer Service Center Management System:Following are the steps in establishing the customer care center system:1. Understand your Customer:The first step is to identify the customers expectations, changing needs, wants and desires. These can be identified through conducting researches. The research can be done through conducting focus group in different cities and by including females of different SEC. The research can also be conducted through the help of third party such as Neilson. Apart from this the research can also be conducted through questionnaire survey form.Benefits:Following are the benefits:I. It will help in identifying the gap between current offering and expected offering by consumer.II. It will also provide the information regarding the characteristics and expectations that will lead to the achievement of high customer satisfaction level.III. By understanding the customer needs and wants the standards can easily be develop on those identified expectations.IV. Through this information the standards for product, customer touch points, and customer service can be developed.

2. Customer Quality Service Standards:Following are the steps for developing quality service standards:a) Inquiry Handling:In order to have a better customer service center, the customer care representatives should be trained on how to handle the customer inquiry. In order to train the representative, the HR in collaboration with the ICI Paints brand manager should develop the best methods, guidelines, techniques and policies on how to handle an inquiry. It should also include feedback system. HR should also develop the criteria on which the performance of the representative would be evaluated.Following is the example of inquiry handling criteria. Each performance parameter contains score on the basis of which performance will be measured.

b) Complaint Handling:In order to have a better customer service center, the customer care representatives should be trained on how to handle the customer complaint. In order to train the representative, the HR in collaboration with the ICI Paints brand manager should develop the best methods (minimum response time), guidelines, techniques and policies on how to handle a complaint. It should also include feedback system. HR should also develop the criteria on which the performance of the representative would be evaluated.c) Effective use of VOC:The HR and brand manager should also develop a system through which the feedback of customer can be delivered to their respective team. A weekly meeting should be conducted with all the brand managers of the 3 categories and manager of customer care center. The feedback of customers and their solutions should be discussed here. Also, time & action plan should be prepared. The customer care center manager should keep the follow up of these time and action plans.d) Customer Retention:The policies and activities regarding customer retention should be prepared. This includes how to build long term relationship with the customers by providing after sales services. By developing policies on how to compensate customers who have faced multiple reactions on the skin due to BB cream. e) Management:The HR in collaboration with brand managers should prepare the policies of measuring the performances of employees on the basis of these standards. This should also include policies regarding staff recruitment and staff retention.

3. Build A Winning Team:In order to build a winning team, following steps should be followed:1. The HR and brand manager should establish the performance standards, training material and best methods. 2. While developing standards, they should identify the job description and skills of an employee that would be required to fulfill these standards.3. These should include both behavioral and knowledge attributes.4. Apart from this, the HR should also develop the performance monitoring and evaluation standards.5. The next step is to develop the reward system which would include both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.6. After development of all the standards the HR should start the recruitment and hiring process.7. After recruitment the jobs and duties should be assigned to the new employees.8. Also, these new employees should be given trainings on the basis of standards and the performance monitoring standards should be communicated to them.9. The employee performance should be measured quarterly and should be rewarded accordingly.10. If any employee has performed beyond expectation then he should be awarded with promotion.11. The appraisal and reward system will increase the motivation level of the employee.12. Due to motivation the employee is going to take the ownership of work and going to provide valuable feedback.13. It will also increase the satisfaction level of employees which will decrease the turnover rate.14. Since the turnover rate would be lesser the employees are going to become experienced that would provide quality service to the customers.15. Due to high quality service the customer satisfaction level is going to be increased.16. The satisfied customers are going to spread good word of mouth regarding ICI Paints brand and they will become loyal customer.17. This will ultimately increase the sales and profits.

4. Regular Monitoring:In order to implement system properly, it is very important to monitor the system on regular basis. Following are the steps: A service audit system:1. The audit should be conducted by the manager.2. The manager can also make a mystery call to the department in order to evaluate how the query or complaint is handled.3. There should a proper checks points and standards to do audit.4. Also, proper rating scale should be prepared in order to measure the performance.5. The manager should make sure the implementation of standard and should take necessary actions in case there is any compliance issue.6. Apart from this, tools such as Pareto charts, Cause and Effect Diagram and Scatter Diagrams can be used in order to measure the quality.

A customer Feedback system:1. There should be a regular customer feedback system.2. The feedback can be conducted through telephone and email etc.3. Through feedback the ICI Paints would know about the changing expectations and requirements of the customer.4. It will help in improving the service standards.5. Also, it will help in changing the best methods accordingly.

An employee feedback system:1. The employee can provide innovative and creative ideas as they are in continuous contact with the customers. 2. Since they know the customer better their feedback can help in improving current system, procedures and methods.3. They are also very well aware of the changing needs and wants of the customers.4. This system should be two way including feedback and feed forward.5. It will help the employee to improve and hence service quality will improve.

5.Provide a Proactive Problem Solving:1. The customer service team is going to provide solutions to the customer issues.2. It will eventually create a database of issues through which the most popular issue can be identified.3. It will help in collecting and analyzing the customer feedback and in preparing proactive solutions.4. Also, it will help in devising the actions steps to solve a particular issue.5. This will help the employee to deal the customers effectively & efficiently.6. Also, it will help in providing quick response that will improve the customer satisfaction.Customer Service Assessment Scale:Customer Service Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Exhibit flexibility when responding to varying customer requests? 5 4 3 2 1

Exhibit knowledge of all available products and services? 5 4 3 2 1

Provide Helpful suggestions to customers? 5 4 3 2 1

Use Tactful words and comments with customers? 5 4 3 2 1

Benefits:1. The customer care center will help in measuring the performance of products 2. The retailers will be able to give their direct feedback or complaint regarding product, customer and sales force.3. The sales force will be able to give direct feedback or complaint regarding product or distributor.4. The customer care center can direct contact customer, sales force and retailer in order to get regular feedback.