Topic 6 - Customer Care

Higher Administration & IT

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Learning Intentions / Success Criteria

Learning

Intentions

Customer Care

Success Criteria

By end of this topic you will be able to describe the

following aspects to do with customer care:

• The features of good customer care such as:

- written customer care policy

- service level agreements

- complaints procedures.

• Methods for monitoring and evaluating the quality of

customer care such as:

- satisfaction surveys

- customer focus groups

- market research

- quality management systems.

• The benefits and consequences of good customer care. 2

Customer Service

To survive in today’s competitive market modern

business organisation s must make a determined

effort to provide the best possible service to their

customers in the most cost-effective way

possible.

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Features of Good Customer Care

• Putting the customer first

• Communicating with customers effectively

• Ensuring that staff are knowledgeable about

products and services

• Providing a good after-sales services

• Dealing with complaints effectively and to the

customer’s satisfaction.

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The Roles of the Administrative

Assistant When dealing with external customers, it is essential that the

Administrative Assistant is aware of organisational polices and

procedures and adheres to standards of service:

• competence – have a knowledge of the organisation’s

products or services

• confidence – smile, keep eye contact and display positive

body language

• concern – listen attentively to what the customer has to say

• courtesy – be polite and don’t argue with a customer even if

they are shouting or being abusive

• communication – ask questions, take notes and keep the

customer informed.

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Types of Customer Service Polices

• Written customer care

statement/strategy

• Customer Service Level

Agreement (SLA)

• Complaints procedure

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Written Customer Care Policy

• A formal written statement

about the standards that a

customer can expect from an

organisation.

• It is written to try to ensure

that the customer gets what

they want, at the right

standard, quality and price.

• This statement should be

shared with employees and

customers so that everyone is

aware of the standard

expected.

If a customer care strategy is

properly implemented it will

allow the organisation to benefit

from:

• high levels of customer

satisfaction

• increased sales

• greater customer loyalty

• a good reputation

• a higher level of

competiveness

• fewer complaints to deal

with. 7

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Customer Service Level Agreement

(SLA) This is an agreement between the organisation and the customer that describes

what the organisation promises to do and what the customer can expect. The

agreement may include the following aspects:

• how the organisation will deliver on the promises, for example,

- delivery of products will take place within three working days from the day of

purchase

• what will happen if the organisation fails to deliver on its promises

• extended warranties on products incur an additional cost and must be purchased

within one week of purchasing the product

• any hidden or extra costs, for example,

- delivery of products from the organisation to the customer incurs an additional

- installation of a product in the customer’s home is not included in the purchase

price.

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Complaints Procedure

In reality things do go wrong and when they do it is

important that a procedure is in place to deal with customer

complaints. The following should be covered by a

complaints procedure:

• All complaints should be taken seriously, logged and

given a reference number.

• Staff who deal with complaints should be trained

appropriately.

• All complaints should be acknowledge in some way and

some indication of the next steps should be outlined.

• Clear timelines should be given to customers and an

indication of how long they should expect to wait for a

response.

• The result of the complaint should be communicated to

the customer as soon as possible.

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Benefits of Good Customer Care

• High staff morale and motivation, which can increase

productivity

• Low staff turnover as staff will want to stay in an organisation

where there are not many customer complaints

• Satisfied customers who will remain loyal to the organisation

and also recommend the organisation to others

• Good reputation which will attract new customers

• Competitive edge in the market place

• Increased market share.

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Effects of Poor Customer Care

• Demotivated staff and low staff morale, which will result

in poor working relationships and high staff turnover

• Dissatisfied customers who will not return and will not

recommend to others

• Increased complaints and poor reputation which is

difficult to turn around

• Reduced sales revenue and profits for the organisation

• Loss of the competitive edge and market share

• Downfall of the organisation.

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Methods for Monitoring and

Evaluating Customer Care

It is important that

organisations gain

feedback on their

customer care so that

improvements can be

made.

The following are methods

organisations may use:

• Satisfaction surveys

• Mystery shopper

• Customer focus groups

• Loyalty cards

• Market research

• Quality management

systems

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Customer Satisfaction Surveys

• This is a way of collecting

information from

customers and listening to

what they are saying about

the service they receive.

• However, sometimes it is

difficult to get these back

from customers and it can

be a costly process to send

them out and analyse the

results.

There are various ways

of collecting the

information required,

including:

• questionnaires

• comment cards

• telephone interviews

• interviews in the street

• online surveys.

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Written Surveys

• Written surveys can be pre-

printed forms or

questionnaires posted out to

the customer with a reply-

paid envelope.

• Not everyone fills in

questionnaires, so incentives

such as entry into a prize

draw are often given to

encourage customers.

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Advantages of Written Surveys

• They give the customer the opportunity to comment

and make them feel valued.

• They can be issued immediately after the customer

has had dealings with the organisation and he

experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind.

• A permanent record is created which can be

compared with previous surveys over a period of

time.

• Results can be analysed and statistics extracted.

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Disadvantages of Written Surveys

• The number of responses received is usually low and may not be

representative of the whole customer base.

• The people who respond may only be those who are either very satisfied or

very dissatisfied and the results may not therefore represent the full

customer base.

• They are not time-efficient. The survey has to be prepared, printed and sent

out, and it may take some time for responses to be returned.

• The wording of questions is crucial. Questions should be pre-tested to

ensure they are unambiguous, clear and understandable or customers will

not bother to answer them.

• Many surveys are based on box ticking and so are not very flexible.

• Increasingly, online surveys are used as they are quick and simple to

complete; however, people do not always read the questions properly, so

the information provided may not be accurate.

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Telephone Surveys

• Customers may be

telephoned and asked

pre-set questions.

• This can be cheaply and

effectively outsourced

to call centres, but some

customers resent being

interrupted at home.

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Advantages of Telephone Surveys

• They make all those contacted feel valued.

• They generate instant data which can be used

for fine-tuning customer service strategies.

• This kind of survey is cheap compared with

other methods, particularly when it can be

outsourced to a specialist call centre.

• Any ambiguous questions can be explained.

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Disadvantages of Telephone

Surveys • Customer may resent being interrupted at work or at home.

• Customers may think there is a hidden agenda, such as the

company trying to sell another product or service.

• Questions often have to be very simple when they are given

only verbally. Complex questions cannot be used.

• If the organisation has outsourced the survey to a third party,

the third party may lack the specialist knowledge to be able to

explain the questions to the customer if the customer does not

understand what is being asked.

• They may only reach certain groups of customers and so not

be truly representative.

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Customer Focus Groups

• A focus group is a face-to-face meeting with a group of

customers to allow them to provide feedback to an

organisation on goods and services.

• However, a focus group can be very expensive to arrange as

the participants may have to be paid a nominal fee and the cost

of travel and a meeting venue would have to be covered.

• Also, customers may only tell the organisation what they want

to hear and not give any negative feedback.

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Advantages of Focus Groups

• A pre-determined number of customers (which is representative

of the customer base) can be invited to a focus group so you can

guarantee the number of responses.

• The organisation get instant feedback from a focus group.

• Those invited to a focus group will feel valued and are likely to

give more positive responses than they might on a written survey.

• Customers may give more considered responses because

everyone is given the opportunity to speak.

• Any questions which the customers do not understand can be

clarified or re-worded.

• Additional questions can be asked to probe any issues which

arise.

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Disadvantages of Focus Groups

• There may be a time delay between the customer buying the

product or service and the meeting of the focus group.

• All customers cannot be invited to the focus group so the

organisation is sampling responses right from the start.

• The interaction of the individuals in the group may lead to

an infectious negative experience and feedback.

• In order to get a national perspective, large companies

would have to hold many focus groups throughout the

country – an even more complicated, expensive and time-

consuming exercise.

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Face-to-face Interviews

• Face-to-face interviews may

be deemed appropriate in

some cases, especially

where information is

confidential; for example, if

research is being done into

financial services.

• Here, interviews are usually

on a one-to-one basis, either

at point of sale or later.

• Banks often make use of

these.

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Advantages/Disadvantages of Face-

to-face Interviews Advantages

• They are usually one-to-one

interviews, allowing close

interaction between

interviewer and interviewee.

• They allow for more private

or personal questioning.

Disadvantages

• They can be longer and

more time-consuming.

• They are less structured and

it is therefore often more

difficult to summarise what

has been reported.

• They are expensive, labour-

intensive and fewer people

are reached.

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Mystery Shopper

• This is when someone is employed to act as a

customer and report back on the service they receive.

• This information is given to staff and any concerns

regarding poor standards can be rectified.

• Praise may also be given to staff if the mystery

customer has a good experience.

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Advantages/Disadvantages of

Mystery Shoppers Advantages

• It gives a really clear idea of

what a real customer might

experience.

• It is good for identifying

staff training needs.

Disadvantages

• It monitors and evaluates on

the performance of the

individual staff that the

mystery shopper comes in

contact with.

• It normally only assesses

front-line customer service.

• There may be hostility from

the staff.

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Loyalty Cards

• Loyalty cards are used to reward customers for

their loyalty to an organisation by giving them

points that can be exchanged for rewards.

• This is a good way of retaining customer

loyalty.

• Organisations can also use the information from

loyalty cards to gain information about their

customers and their spending habits.

• They can use this information to target

customers by gearing special offers on the

products they buy towards them.

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Market Research

• A process of collecting information and feedback

about what customers think of an organisation and

improvements that can be made.

• Market research is also used when organisations are

thinking of launching new products onto the market

to gain the opinion of potential customers before a

product is launched.

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Quality Management Systems

• Using quality management systems an organisation

instils a culture where quality is the responsibility of

all staff.

• The customer is at the heart of the organisation and

customer service is the responsibility of everyone and

not just the people who deal directly with the

customer.

• It is important that all staff are committed to

improving standards and delivering what has been

promised to the customer.

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