customer service and customer information management

8/7/2019 customer service and customer information management

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Subject:

Marketing

Topic

Customer service and

information

Submitted to: syed akbar shah

Submitted by:

kazmi

Registration # 55203

Date:


2/11

Customer service:

Customer service is the provision of service to customersbefore, during and after a purchase.

According to Turban Customer service is a series ofactivities designed to enhance the level of customersatisfaction that is, the feeling that a product orservice has met the customer expectation."

Its importance varies by product, industry and customer;defective or broken merchandise can be exchanged, oftenonly with a receipt and within a specified time frame.

Retail stores will often have a desk or counter devoted todealing with returns, exchanges and complaints, or willperform related functions at the point of sale; theperceived success of such interactions being dependent onemployees "who can adjust themselves to the personality ofthe guest, "according to Micah Solomon quoted in Inc.Magazine.

From the point of view of an overall sales processengineering effort, customer service plays an importantrole in an organization's ability to generate income andrevenue. From that perspective, customer service should beincluded as part of an overall approach to systematicimprovement. A customer service experience can change theentire perception a customer has of the organization.

Some have argued that the quality and level of customerservice has decreased in recent years, and that this can beattributed to a lack of support or understanding at theexecutive and middle management levels of a corporationand/or a customer service policy. To address this argument,many organizations have employed a variety of methods toimprove their customer satisfaction levels, and other KPIs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inc._Magazinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inc._Magazinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_process_engineeringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_process_engineeringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inc._Magazinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inc._Magazinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_process_engineeringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_process_engineering


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Customer support services:

Customer support is a range of customer services to assistcustomers in making cost effective and correct use of aproduct. It includes assistance in planning, installation,

training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, anddisposal of a product.

Regarding technology products such as mobile phones,televisions, computers, software products or otherelectronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technicalsupport.

Automated customer service

Customer service may be provided by a person (e.g., salesand service representative), or by automated means.Examples of automated means are Internet sites. Anadvantage with automated means is an increased ability toprovide service 24-hours a day, which can, at least, be acomplement to customer service by persons

However, in the Internet era, a challenge has been tomaintain and/or enhance the personal experience whilemaking use of the efficiencies of online commerce. Writingin Fast Company, entrepreneur and customer systemsinnovator Micah Solomon has made the point that "Onlinecustomers are literally invisible to you (and you to them),so it's easy to shortchange them emotionally. But this lackof visual and tactile presence makes it even more crucialto create a sense of personal, human-to-human connection inthe online arena."

Automated means can be based entirely on self service, butmay also be based on service by more or less means ofartificial intelligence.

Examples of customer service by artificial means areautomated online assistants that can be seen as avatars onwebsites.[6] It can avail for enterprises to reduce theiroperating and training cost.[6] These are driven by
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_supporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_supporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Company_(magazine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_online_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing)#Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service#cite_note-Kongthon-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service#cite_note-Kongthon-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_supporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_supporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Company_(magazine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_online_assistanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing)#Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service#cite_note-Kongthon-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service#cite_note-Kongthon-5


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chatterbots, and a major underlying technology to suchsystems is natural language processing.

Instant feedback

Recently, many organizations have implemented feedbackloops that allow them to capture feedback at the point ofexperience. For example, National Express, one of the UK'sleading travel companies invites passengers to send textmessages whilst riding the bus. This has been shown to beuseful as it allows companies to improve their customerservice before the customer defects, thus making it farmore likely that the customer will return next time.

Technology has made it increasingly easier for companies toobtain feedback from customers. Community blogs and forumsgive customers to give detailed explanations of bothnegative and positive experiences with an organization.

A challenge working with customer service is to ensure thatyou have focused your attention on the right key areas,measured by the right Key Performance Indicator. There isno challenge to come up with a lot of meaningful KPIs, butthe challenge is to select a few which reflects youroverall strategy. In addition to reflecting your strategy

it should also enable staff to limit their focus to theareas that really matter. The focus must be of those KPIs,which will deliver the most value to the overall objective,e.g. cost saving, service improving etc. It must also bedone in such a way that staff sincerely believes that theycan make a difference with the effort.

One of the most important aspects of a customer service KPIis that of what is often referred to as the "Feel GoodFactor." Basically the goal is to not only help thecustomer have a good experience, but to offer them an

experience that exceeds their expectations. Several keypoints are listed as follows:

1. Know your product Know what products/service you areoffering back to front. In other words be an informationexpert. It is okay to say "I don't know," but it shouldalways be followed up by "but let me find out" or possibly"but my friend knows!" Whatever the situation may be, make
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sure that you don't leave your customer with an unansweredquestion.

2. Body Language/Communication Most of the communicationthat we relay to others is done through body language. If

we have a negative body language when we interact withothers it can show our lack of care. Two of the mostimportant parts of positive body language are smiling andeye contact. Make sure to look your customers in the eye.It shows that we are listening to them, not at them. Andthen of course smiling is just more inviting than someonewho has a blank look on their face.

3. Anticipate Guest Needs Nothing surprises your customermore than an employee going the extra mile to help them.Always look for ways to serve your customer more than theyexpect. In doing so it helps them to know that you care andit will leave them with the "Feel Good Factor" that we aresearching for.

Importance of ccustomerservice:

Most anyone will agree that customer service is one of themost important parts of your company's overall strategy toconducting business. Without customers you really don'thave a business. If this is the case, why is it mostlyeveryone as consumers can easily mention examples of poorcustomer service in their daily lives? Every company eitherhas or thinks it has good customer service. However, ifcertain steps are not taken to ensure this, the reality of

their situation is often far worse than their currentperceptions.

In any successful business or organization, the commitmentto customer service always begins at the top, the company'sleaders must buy into the fact that they not only need tomeet their customer's expectations, they must strive toexceed them. They must develop a company culture that


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understands, embraces and executes this concept. In today'sworld, business competition is tougher than ever. If youcan't provide goods or services when somebody wants orneeds them, there are often four or five other companiesimmediately ready to fill this void. You only get one

chance to make a good first impression. If the company'sleaders do not accept this fact, or are not willing toprovide the necessary resources to meet their customer'sneeds, they will soon find themselves scrambling forbusiness.

Proper training is one way to develop a company culturethat embraces excellent customer service. Every employeemust understand implicitly what is expected of them wheninteracting with customers. Is there an established,uniform way to answer the phone? Are there set proceduresin place for instances when a customer has a question orproblem? Is there an established chain of command to makesure that issues are handled in a timely fashion? And mostimportantly is everyone trained to carry out these companyprocedures? How you handle the problem is far moreimportant than the problem itself. A customer must alwaysbe made to feel as though their best interests are beinggiven serious consideration, even when you can't give in totheir demands. It is far better to say 'no' with a smile,than 'yes' with an attitude.

Customer feedback is an excellent way to track and measure

your level of service. You should not only benchmark yourcompany against your competition, but also against thegoals you set for yourself. Once again, you must rememberyou are trying to not only meet, but exceed your customer'sexpectations. Written surveys are one way to gage customersatisfaction. This can be useful to obtain feedback on awide variety of company functions. Always allow for writtencomments, as these usually will help shed light on problemareas. Management's interaction with customers is anexcellent way to not only measure overall efforts, but toalso show the level of commitment the company has towards

their needs. A manager who does not spend anytime withcustomers is likely to be detached and unaware of whattheir employees do and what their customers want. Youalways feel better if you have the chance to talk tosomeone who actually sets policy, not just someone paid tocarry it out.

In today's world of bigger, faster, better you need to be


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the company that gets it right the first time, and if youdon't, you must quickly rectify your mistakes. If youconsistently make this part of how you conduct business,your customer's loyalty will continue to grow. The surestway to continued success and future growth is to not only

meet your customers expectations, but to exceed them atevery possible turn.

Good customer service is the foundation of any business. Itprovides a platform for continued growth and helps to buildyour businesses reputation. You can offer promotions andslash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want,but unless you can get some of those customers to comeback, your business won't be profitable for long.

Good customer service is also about sending them away happy- happy enough to pass positive feedback about yourbusiness along to others, who may then try the product orservice you offer for themselves, in their turn becomingrepeat customers.

Customer information

An information system(IS) - or application landscape - isany combination of information technology and people'sactivities using that technology to support operations,management, and decision-making. In a very broad sense, theterm information system is frequently used to refer to theinteraction between people, algorithmic processes, data andtechnology. In this sense, the term is used to refer notonly to the information and communication technology (ICT)an organization uses, but also to the way in which peopleinteract with this technology in support of businessprocesses.

Some make a clear distinction between information systems,and computer systems ICT, and business processes.Information systems are distinct from informationtechnology in that an information system is typically seenas having an ICT component. Information systems are alsodifferent from business processes. Information systems helpto control the performance of business processes.Alterargues for an information system as a special type of work
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system. A work system is a system in which humans and/ormachines perform work using resources (including ICT) toproduce specific products and/or services for customers. Aninformation system is a work system whose activities aredevoted to processing (capturing, transmitting, storing,

retrieving, manipulating and displaying) information.

Part of the difficulty in defining the term informationsystem is due to vagueness in the definition of relatedterms such as system and information. Following thepioneering work of Ronald_Stamper, Beynon-Davies argues fora clearer terminology based in systemics and semiotics. Hedefines an information system as an example of a systemconcerned with the manipulation of signs. An informationsystem is a type of socio-technical system. An informationsystem is a mediating construct between actions andtechnology.

As such, information systems inter-relate with data systemson the one hand and activity systems on the other. Aninformation system is a form of communication system inwhich data represent and are processed as a form of socialmemory. An information system can also be considered asemi-formal language which supports human decision makingand action.

Information systems are the primary focus of study for theinformation systems discipline and for organisational

informatics.

Components

It consists of computers, instructions, stored facts,people and procedures.

ISs can be categorized in three parts:

1. Management Information System (MIS).

2. Decision Support System (DSS).3. Executive Information System (EIS)
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Importance of customerinformation:

Here is answer to this question The emergence of a globaleconomy, transformation of industrial economies,transformation of the business enterprise, and theemergence of digital firm make information systemsessential in business today. Information system is afoundation for conducting business today. In manybusinesses, survival and the ability to achieve strategicbusiness goals is difficult without extensive use ofinformation technology. There are six reasons or objectives

why businesses use information system:

1. Operational excellence.

Business improve the efficiency of their operations inorder to achieve higher profitability. Information systemsare important tools available to managers for achievinghigher levels of efficiency and productivity in businessoperations. A good example is Wal-Mart that uses aRetailLink system , which digitally links its suppliers to

every one of Wal-Mart's stores. as soon as a a customerpurchase an item , the supplier is monitoring the item ,knows to ship a replacement to the shelf.

2. New products, services, and businessmodels.

Information system is a major tool for firms to create newproducts and services, and also an entirely new business

models. A business model describe how a company produces,delivers, and sells a product or service to create wealth.Example: Apple inc transformed an old business model basedon its iPod technology platform that included iPod, theiTunes music service, and the iPhone.

3. Customer/supplier intimacy.


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When a business serves its customers well, the customersgenerally respond by returning and purchasing more. thisraises revenue and profits. The more a business engage itssuppliers, the better the suppliers can provide vital

inputs. This lower costs. Example: The Mandarin Oriental inmanhattan and other high-end hotels exemplify the use ofinformation systems and technology to achieve customerintimacy. they use computers to keep track of guests'preferences, such as their preffered room temperature,check-in time, television programs.

4. Improved decision making.

Many managers operate in an information bank, never having

the right information at the right time to make an informeddecision. These poor outcomes raise costs and losecustomers. Information system made it possible for themanagers to use real time data from the marketplace whenmaking decision. Example: Verizon Corporation uses a Web-based digital dashboard to provide managers with precisereal -time information on customer complains, networkperformance.. Using this information managers canimmediately allocate repair resources to affected areas,inform customers of repair efforts and restore servicefast.

5. Competitive advantage.When firms achieve one or more of these business

objectives( operational excellence, new products, services,and business models, customer/supplier intimacy, andimproved decision making) chances are they have alreadyachieved a competitive advantage. Doing things better thanyour competitors, charging less for superior products, andresponding to customers and suppliers in real time all addup to higher sales, and higher profits. Example: Toyota

Production System focuses on organizing work to eliminatewaste, making continues improvements, TPS is based on whatcustomers have actually ordered.

6. Day to day survival.


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Business firms invest in information system and technologybecause they are necessities of doing business. Thisnecessities are driven by industry level changes. Example:Citibank introduced the first automatic teller machine toattract customers through higher service levels, and its

competitors rushed to provide ATM's to their customers tokeep up with Citibank. Providing ATMs services to retailbanking customers is simply a requirement of being in andsurviving in the retail banking business. Firm turn toinformation system and technology to provide the capabilityto respond to these.

Information systems are the foundation for conductingbusiness today. In many industries, survival and evenexistence without extensive use of IT is inconceivable, andIT plays a critical role in increasing productivity.Although information technology has become more of acommodity, when coupled with complementary changes inorganization and management, it can provide the foundationfor new products, services, and ways of conducting businessthat provide firms with a strategic advantage.

Challenges:

Customer service and customer information management hasmany positive aspects. But it has many some challenges also.

It is costly for the companies.Some times data about customer is not correct.Some customers want to keep them secret.

Conclusion

Customer service and customer information has become a partof business in these years. To make high volume sales, andprofit margins better customer service and customer

information is very important.But his can be done by each company due its cost.

customer service and customer information management

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