Customer Service Plan

Customer service is an important aspect of a service industry, which helps to maintain the customer centricity of the service, helps to improve the satisfaction of the customers through better identification and addressing of the needs and expectations of the customer (Aryee et al., 2015; Daugherty et al., 2018).

The aim of this study is to develop a customer service plan that can help to achieve better customer satisfaction through better customer support, maintaining the standard of customer service, understanding the customer needs, develop better standards of customer service and identify strategies to handle customer complaints, getting feedbacks from customers, planning for unforeseen events and outlining the key performance indicators for customer service (Ding et al., 2017; Powers et al., 2017).

The service vision and mission of my organization is to ensure better customer satisfaction through better service delivery and service standards and also ensure improved job satisfaction of the employees through positive working environment (Zhuang & Babin, 2015).

The standards of service that are implemented in my organization include:

Improved delivery of service: The service aims towards better delivery of service through incorporation of service delivery partners and improving access to the service (Conway & Briner, 2015).

Competitive pricing strategies: The organization also aims to improve the service standard through competitive pricing, keeping the costs of the service at the lower end of the industry standard to attract more customers (Cusumano et al., 2015).

Better quality of service: By providing services that are in accordance to the international standards, the organization aims to foster better customer loyalty (Dabholkar, 2015).

In addition to the standards mentioned above the organization aims to maintain the following three aspects for better service delivery and better quality of service:

Timeliness: The service would be provided in a timely manner, adhering to a fixed turnaround time for resolution (24 to 48 hours) (Brydon et al., 2017).

Accuracy: The service provided would also be accurate, with correct solutions being provided for the customer’s problems. The accuracy can be maintained by following protocols for diagnosing the customer’s concerns and reach a proper solution to it (Brach et al., 2015).

Appropriateness: This is another aspect that ensures that the solution and service is appropriate according to the customer’s need and expectations. To ensure this, the organization has strong practice of following protocols of service delivery (Wong et al., 2015).

The needs and expectations of the customers can be explained using the RATER model, where RATER stands for Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Responsiveness (Casabianca et al., 2017). In the context of my organization, this model has the following implications:

Customer Service Vision and Mission of the Organization

The service should foremost be reliable for the customer, and ensure that the customer can depend upon the service to help him/her whenever they approach or contact for any assistance. Also, the resolutions given should also be reliable and dependable.

Assurance should be given to the customers on every interaction that their problems or concerns would be assisted with and they would receive the help and support that they need and are entitled to.

The outcome of the service should be tangible, that is the customer should be able to experience an improvement or the resolution of the problem first hand, and thus understand the effectiveness and efficacy of the service.

The customer support should also should be able to show empathy towards the customers, giving them the impression that the customer support personnel is able to understand the customer’s problem as his won and thus imply a sincere effort to assist and help the customer.

Responsiveness is also an important factor in customer service that ensures the service is responsive to the customer needs and responds to the queries and concerns of the customer in an appropriate and effective manner.

(Engelhard et al., 2018)

• Providing customers a case number for each complaint registered
• Providing contact information of case managers who would be handling the case
• Giving them a turnaround time for resolution of the complaint
• Providing them methods to follow-up on the complaint using the case number
• Keeping the customer updated on the case
• Providing information to customer for escalation if their concerns are not met

(Shooshtari et al., 2018)

Customer feedback can be obtained through the following ways:

• Feedback questionnaire sent on emails
• Taking telephonic feedbacks whenever possible

(Afzal, 2018)

In case the service was not able to address the customer needs or expectations, the customer can be provided with options to escalate the case, ask for refund for payment or get the option for free service extensions.

The customer service personnel would be responsible for interactions with the customer, develop an interpersonal relation, understand their concerns, needs and expectations and inform them of the mode and procedures of the service delivery, along with the turnaround time (Koehler et al., 2017).

The case managers would be responsible to ensure that all the turnaround time are being met, and all the customer’s needs are addressed (Marchesani et al., 2017).

Escalation managers would respond to the grievances of the customer towards the service and try to de-escalate the issue and retain the customer by giving them compensatory services, bonuses or discounts (Zhu et al., 2017).

Customer Complaint: A customer walks into the store, complaining that internet and phone was not working for the last few days, as a result of which she was neither able to work on her computer or even watch television (which was also connected to her internet). She was very much frustrated since she was not able to receive important phone calls which she was expecting the last few days. She came into the store informing that she urgently needs to problem solved as she wants to watch an important show that was coming up day after tomorrow, and said that if the problem is not resolved she will go for another service provider.

My Customer Service Standards

Customer: When I bought your service I was assured that this was the best service that money could buy. I was promised of a high speed internet and a free subscription for television channels. However, my internet connection has been very slow since the last week, youtube takes forever to buffer, pages do not open up and now I am not able to watch television either. What is going on?

Customer Support: I am really sorry for your inconvenience ma’am. I see that you are facing problems with the internet connection being very slow and also unable to watch television through your subscription. I also understand that buffering on youtube being very slow on your computer, and you have been facing the problem since the last one week, as per your information.

Customer: Yes and I do not think I want to continue using your service any longer and rather give another service provider a chance who would appreciate me as a customer.

Customer Support: Once again I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused, however, I would like to assure you that I do understand your frustration, and I am here to assist you and help to resolve the problem at the earliest. Would it be okay if I ask you few questions so that I understand the exact nature of the problem and thus get to a proper diagnosis and resolution?

Customer: No I am fed up with your service, I do not think you will be able to assist me with this problem, so I think its better I go for another service.

Customer Support: I am very sorry to hear about your bad experience with us, however I am more than eager to help you, if you could allow me some time to get to the bottom of this problem. However, if you would like to talk to a manager, I can also connect the call to my manager if you wish to escalate.

Customer: I have some time, so go ahead and ask me what you want to know.

Customer support: Have you faced this issue before, or is this the first time you faced this problem? And have you complained regarding this issue before?

Customer: No I got the internet connection last month, and this is the first time I am facing this problem since last week.

Customer: Go ahead please.

Customer Support: Was the internet  and television connection working fine before a week ago? Or were you facing the problems then too?

Customer needs according to the RATER model

Customer: It started last week after there was a thunderstorm in my area.

Customer Support: And are you using laptop or a desktop to connect to the internet?

Customer: laptop

Customer Support: Thank you so much for the information. I noted all these information, and have created a complaint number which is xxxxxx-xx. Out technical team will be looking into this matter right away and in 24 hours, I shall give you a call with an update on this problem.

Customer: Yes, but will my problem be resolved?

Customer Support: I assure you that we will do everything that is needed to help you on this. I shall personally follow up with the technical team regarding this and shall keep updating you accordingly. You can also call in any time you want, and reach me on my extension (-xxx). If you think that we are unable to address your concerns, you can also approach our case managers with the case number I gave you.

Customer: How long before the problem gets fixed?

Customer Support: Within 24 hours the technical team will look into the matter, and we will dispatch technicians to your house to fix the problem. I shall notify you before the technicians arrive. However, it would be helpful if you let us know the best time to contact you and the approximate timeframe when you or anyone else might be available at home for the technician’s visit.

Customer: I am available all day on phone, and the technician can come tomorrow anytime between 9am to 9pm.

Customer Support: Thank you ma’am for the information. Is there anything else I may assist you with?

Customer: No

Follow-up #1:

Customer Support: I ma’am, this is the customer support from X service provider.

Customer: Hi

Customer Support: I wanted to inform you that the technicians will be reaching your home at 10 am to fix the internet problem. I would request you or anyone else to be present at home to check the resolution after they have completed their work. If you have any queries you can let me know or you can call us on the toll free number anytime you wish.

Customer: Thanks, I do not have any queries as of now, I just wish the internet starts working again.

Customer Support: Don’t worry ma’am, we will get the problem resolved by today for sure.

Customer Support: Thank you once again for your time.

Responding or handling customer complaints

Followup #2:

Customer Support: I ma’am, this is the customer support from X service provider. I wanted to check if your internet and television connection is working fine.

Customer: Yes the technicians left just an hour ago, they were very skilled and also informed me why the problem occurred. They fixed everything, and now everything is working fine.

Customer Support: That’s good to hear.

Customer support: Since everything is working fine, do we have your permission to close the case?

Customer: Sure

Customer Support: tahanks. If you face any further issues with the internet in the next 48 hours, you can still use the same case number and call us on the toll free number to reach us.

Customer Support: Thank you so much for your time and patience.

Customer: Thank you too.

References:

Afzal, S. (2018). Using complaints handling insight to enhance conduct risk assessment. Journal of Financial Compliance, 1(4), 294-300.

Aryee, S., Seidu, E. Y., Sacramento, C. A., & Martinaityte, I. (2015). Proactive customer service performance: Test of a team-level model. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2015, No. 1, p. 11002). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

Brach, S., Walsh, G., Hennig?Thurau, T., & Groth, M. (2015). A dyadic model of customer orientation: mediation and moderation effects. British Journal of Management, 26(2), 292-309.

Brydon, A., Patterson, J., Tessier, J., Golubock, S., Georgescu, V., & Kislaki, R. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,654,640. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Casabianca, J. M., Junker, B. W., Nieto, R., & Bond, M. A. (2017). A Hierarchical Rater Model for Longitudinal Data. Multivariate behavioral research, 52(5), 576-592.

Conway, N., & Briner, R. B. (2015). Unit-level linkages between employee commitment to the organization, customer service delivery and customer satisfaction. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(16), 2039-2061.

Cusumano, M. A., Kahl, S. J., & Suarez, F. F. (2015). Services, industry evolution, and the competitive strategies of product firms. Strategic management journal, 36(4), 559-575.

Dabholkar, P. A. (2015). How to improve perceived service quality by increasing customer participation. In Proceedings of the 1990 academy of marketing science (AMS) annual conference (pp. 483-487). Springer, Cham.

Daugherty, P. J., Bolumole, Y., & Grawe, S. J. (2018). The new age of customer impatience: An agenda for reawakening logistics customer service research. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management.

Ding, S., Wang, Z., Wu, D., & Olson, D. L. (2017). Utilizing customer satisfaction in ranking prediction for personalized cloud service selection. Decision Support Systems, 93, 1-10.

Engelhard Jr, G., Wang, J., & Wind, S. A. (2018). A tale of two models: Psychometric and cognitive perspectives on rater-mediated assessments using accuracy ratings. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 60(1), 33-52.

Koehler, J., Fux, E., Herzog, F. A., Lötscher, D., Waelti, K., Imoberdorf, R., & Budke, D. (2017, September). Towards Intelligent Process Support for Customer Service Desks: Extracting Problem Descriptions from Noisy and Multi-lingual Texts. In International Conference on Business Process Management (pp. 36-52). Springer, Cham.

Marchesani, D., Piccoli, G., & Lui, T. W. (2017). The Impact of IT-Enabled Customer Experience Management on Service Perceptions and Performance. In Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2017 (pp. 377-386). Springer, Cham.

Powers, T. L., Choi, S., & Jack, E. P. (2017, June). The Influence of Store Versus Service Satisfaction on Retail Customer Loyalty: An Abstract. In Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress (pp. 99-100). Springer, Cham.

Shooshtari, N. H., Stan, S., & Clouse, S. F. (2018). Receiving, Recording, and Responding to Customer Complaints: The Effects of Formalizing Customer Complaint Handling Policies in Retail Firms. Services Marketing Quarterly, 1-15.

Wong, C. W., Lai, K. H., Cheng, T. C. E., & Lun, Y. V. (2015). The role of IT-enabled collaborative decision making in inter-organizational information integration to improve customer service performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 159, 56-65.

Zhu, H., Lyu, Y., Deng, X., & Ye, Y. (2017). Workplace ostracism and proactive customer service performance: A conservation of resources perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 64, 62-72.

Zhuang, W., & Babin, B. J. (2015). The Influence of E-Service-Quality on Customer Value Perception and Satisfaction: The Case of Third-Party Web Sites. In Marketing Dynamism & Sustainability: Things Change, Things Stay the Same… (pp. 114-117). Springer, Cham.