Quality Customer Services at A2Z Ltd - Case Study Example

Customer Service Name Institutional Affiliation Task 1 Customer Service Plan Vision & Mission: Our mission is to meet customer expectations and gain their loyalty by developing and supplying them with the best products that meet and surpass technological standards and quality and are easy to use; accompanying products we supply with superior service and support. Our vision is to be the best company in our field of operation in all aspects. We intend to stick to our vision statement to ensure that customer expectation are met and surpassed with leading technology, state-of-the-art service and support, competitive pricing, company accountability and high level of flexibility in customization of our products. Product Standards All our products will be designed and produced following specific standards that ensure that they are the best one can hope for in the market. All products will be checked for conformance to specific performance, design, wrapping and packaging, composition and contents among other quality apparatus. All the specifications of products will be handed to customers at the time of purchase to ensure that they meet customer expectations first before being delivered to their premises. The widgets will be produced in six major sizes, with the largest measuring 10mm while the smallest will measure 5mm. The main sizes will be 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 9mm and 10mm. Pricing will be done in accordance with the size and level of sophistication of the widgets. The company will implement a strict policy on discount to ensure that discounting is done uniformly and consistently at all times. Discounts will be given for different purposes, as the company will determine. Faulty products will be tolerated to a tolerance level of +-5%. Refund on faulty products will be done to a maximum of 10% and all corrections of faulty products will be done and resupplied within the same day. When clients place orders, they will be processed as fast as possible and supplied no later than 7 working days from the day the order is placed. All products will be made of high-quality stainless steel with no exceptions. Policies and Procedures In the course of implementation of A2Z’s policies on customer service, the key goals of ensuring maximum customer satisfaction, product quality, process efficiency and useful support will be ensured at all times. Policy on Identifying Customer Needs One of the short-term and long-term goals of A2Z Ltd is to ensure that customer expectations are met and surpassed at all times. This will involve understanding their needs at any given time. To ensure this, A2Z Ltd will implement the following procedure. Procedure: A team will be dispatched quarter-yearly to our key customers so that they can gather information on their level of satisfaction. They will be required to hold face-to-face meetings with the production managers to determine if they are satisfied with aspects such as product quality, order processing time, pricing, delivery issues, customer care, discounting and policy on refunds. Both new and old clients will be requested to fill our customer satisfaction form upon completion of a transaction to determine their level of satisfaction. The customer desk will also make calls and send emails to specific customers to inquire about the performance of our products and their level of satisfaction. The RATER Model will be based on in the customer identification process. Every half a year, questionnaires will be sent to our clients to inquire about their level of satisfaction. Policy on Customer Complaints All complaints forwarded by our customers will be treated in a transparent, fair, and efficient manner to avoid a repeat of mistakes. A2Z Ltd will always adhere to the provision of Anti-discrimination Act, Equal Opportunity Act 2010, Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and WHS Act in its customer complaints policy. The customer representatives will be expected to exhibit the following qualities when handling customers. Be courteous Patient Polite Maintain integrity Ask questions for clarification Listen carefully and attentively Customers must be notified of the status of their complaint Data and Record Management: All data collected from customers will be maintained secure, private, and confidential and will be used for organizational purposes only. The Privacy Act 1988, Anti-discrimination. Do not call register and Industry code of practice Acts will be followed to the latter. In addition to adhering to the aforementioned Acts, the company will also ensure that: Only the needed information is collected from customers Information collected will be kept to the minimal Client information will be updated annually Access to client record will be restricted to top management only Reflection plan Our customer service will prioritize the satisfaction of the customer above other needs to ensure that the company achieves a satisfied customer pool. A2Z will engage in massive identification of customer expectations and experiences with our products to identify areas of strength and those that need improvement. Satisfied customers are very crucial to long-term profitability of a company. We will engage in competitive pricing, quality, friendly discounting and refund policies, and efficient ways of handling customer complaints to ensure total satisfaction. All customer care personnel will be trained as necessary and new discovery will be communicated to them as soon as possible to ensure flexibility in handling customers for best customer experience ever (Mostaghel, 2006). Product quality can go a long way in ensuring customer satisfaction. A2Z will be actively involved in ensuring that its products are of the highest quality to create a perception among customers of being a producer of the highest quality widgets (Tsiotsou, 2005). Resources will be employed in a more effective and informed manner to ensure that they achieve customer satisfaction. Customers will be given special treatment in that they will be dealt with directly. Al their concerns will be taken seriously and any complaints will be handled within the shortest time possible. The goal will be to impress the customer in order to create loyalty. The company will implement measures to ensure that mistakes in products are never repeated. We will invest a lot in retaining already existing customers and those who try our products will be given every reason to stay with A2Z. With outstanding quality, customer care, prices, and customer incentives, we believe that customers will be encouraged to spend more on our products. Every worker will be encouraged to align with the firm’s policy of ensuring the highest level of customer satisfaction as we invest in measures to eliminate or minimize instances between customers and personnel. The management will take a closer measure to achieve personal relationships with customers in order to make them feel appreciated and hence encouraged to spend more on our products. Task 3 Key Performance Indicators for A2Z for customer service representatives Customer Satisfaction A customer care that is effective should be able to achieve a satisfied customer pool on average. Feedback forms, interviews, face-to-face discussions and interviews will be used to gauge how satisfied the customers are with customer service. Customer retention Customer retention is directly proportional to good customer service. Customers are retained based on how well their needs are served and the customer service representatives go a long way in ensuring this Average handling time A good customer care staff handles customers very fast, but still attends to their needs satisfactorily. The average time it takes for customers to be attended to and how long it takes for them to walk away satisfied will be calculated. How long calls are answered and how long feedback is provided on complaints will be calculated. The average time for picking and answering a phone call will be calculated and kept within acceptable limits. The personnel should be able to identify customer issues and resolve them as fast as possible without wasting time. Sales The volume of sales results from how satisfied customers are with services and products. When sales are high, then satisfaction is high too. Customer care staff will be ranked according to how many customers they convince to remain as clients and those they convince to make purchases. Quarterly and annual targets will be given and those who surpass them will be rewarded. Following Organizational Procedures The customer care staff will be expected to follow all organizational procedures in handling customers in order to reflect organizational values. Assisting Team members Customer care staff will also be gauged depending on their ability to act as team players. They will be expected to help other members in improving their customer care abilities to achieve organizational goals. Recording and storing customer information The staff will be expected to be very accurate in inquiring, recording/capturing and storing customer information Plan for monitoring performance against KPIs: Customer service staff will be trained vigorously in modern methods and trends in customer care practices. They will also attend short courses, seminars and workshops to keep them abreast with world trends and sharpen their abilities. Company expectations of the customer service staff will be communicated to them so that they know what is expected of them. Policies and an internal organizational attitude towards customer friendliness will be encouraged and improved. Customer interviews, surveys and questionnaires will be used to gather information about customers to determine how satisfied they are. Customer complaints and the process followed in solving them will be reviewed. Annual employee appraisal will be performed to determine how effective the customer care staff is at its work and improvements made as necessary. Questionnaire: Customer Feedback form Customer Service Feedback Form  Please answer the following questions: How was the acknowledgement by our staff? _________________________________________ Did you receive the help you needed? _______________________________________________ Were you satisfied with the service? ________________________________________________ If not, what caused the dissatisfaction? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please give a brief description of the situation. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please provide your own recommendation on how we can better serve you in the future ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for your time, have a good day.   Report on recommended improvement in customer service The essence of customer care service is to be accessible on a 24/7 basis. This would imply that besides using the most traditional methods of making contact such as calling the customer care desk or sending regular mail, the customer care should diversify its options. The use of electronic mail and social media is gaining popularity because of the advantages it offers. Creating an organizational group on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn can make problem identification easier and a solution communicated through such means takes care of all clients using the same media. The use of social media has grown a lot and almost everyone in all the four corners of the earth has access to the internet, which makes things even easier. This makes the work of customer service staff much easier and convenient (Aberdeen Group, 2012). After launching new products, the customer service personnel should be more alert than ever and should devote all their resources to handling complaints, issues and questions regarding new products. This implies that a special team should be set aside to deal specifically with questions and issues arising from new products. This will increase and ensure continued customer satisfaction in that product or service. The third recommendation is that the company should establish a program for recognizing customer service workers and customers who are loyal to the company’s products. This can be done in the form of a celebration at the end of the year in which best performers are awarded. Customers can be recognized basing on volume of purchases and loyalty. Rewards and awards given should be selected carefully to ensure that they are of value to the recipient. Customers can be given certificates with relevant titles recognizing their loyalty or transactions. The customer will be recognized during the celebration as a way of informing them that they are important to A2Z. Recognizing best performing customer service workers against the KPIs motivates them to work harder and challenges other workers to put in more effort into their work too. Research has indicated a positive link between the use of employee appraisals and incentives and improved organizational performance. Employee appraisals give the management a chance to communicate to workers what is expected of them and sets a positive relationship between the two. Employees are also able to open up and communicate their personal hindrances to better performance and other issues that can be useful to the management and the company as a whole (Latham, 1981). References Aberdeen Group. (2012). Social Media and Customer Service: From Listening to Engagement. Accessed 19/9/15 from http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/aberdeen-social-customer-svc-1902160.pdf Latham, G. P. (1981). Increasing productivity through performance appraisal. Prentice Hall. Mostaghel, R. (2006). Customer satisfaction: service quality in online purchasing in Iran. Tsiotsou, R. (2005). Perceived quality levels and their relation to involvement, satisfaction, and purchase intentions. Marketing Bulletin, 16(4), 1-10. Read More