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Communication is an important part of quality customer service

Management

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Communication is an important part of quality customer service. There are a number of considerations that must be taken to ensure that every interaction with a customer is as positive as possible. To be effective, both employees and customers have to be able to resolve issues of conflict. Finding examples of this being done can help you in developing ways to improve your own customer service system.

This article analysis requires you to find examples of how problems are solved and negotiated in business and then apply this information to your own personal world.

Instructions

Part I:

Locate an online article which provides an example of an organization recognizing the importance of good communication because they are developing, implementing or changing ways that they communicate with customers. Briefly summarize the article, relating information from your reading assignment to how the organization is prioritizing the communication with the customer.

Part II:

The second part of the paper is your opinion and thoughts about what you learned in Part I. Include the following:

1. Describe how the company is building their customer intelligence by what they are doing.
2. Identify which of the five methods of communication are being addressed by the company.
3. Incorporate your own experiences relating them to the information from the textbook that helps to support your thoughts and opinion.
4. Evaluate what they are doing. Based on your own experiences and the readings, is what they are doing going to be effective? Why or why not?

Note: If you do not include your opinion, the paper WILL NOT be graded.

The paper should be 1-2 pages in length, double spaced with a font size not larger than 12 point, New Times Roman. Correct APA formatting is required, including proper references and in-text citations.

 

 

Overview

The work you do throughout the modules culminates into a Customer Service Plan. This plan incorporates the following:

Module 2: Company Description & Evaluation
Module 3: Examine Customer Service & Quality
Module 4: Examine Customer Service Practices in the Twenty-First Century
Module 5: Company Analysis

Instructions

Part I:

Customer Perspective

In relation to what you have learned in Module 3 so far, observe and describe the following as you would view it from the customer’s perspective. Hint: What is each communicating to the customer?

1. Physical appearance of the business
2. How quickly is a customer greeted
3. Pace of the transaction
4. Parking lot
5. Hours of operation
6. Courtesy of customer service representative
7. Knowledge of customer service representative
8. Website - if there is a website, how user-friendly is it?

Part II: Quality Recognition

Discuss the following:

1. Identify criteria that your organization deems important in communications.
2. How do you know this criteria is important?
3. How are representatives evaluated on this?
4. What training is provided to employees in the five main methods of communication (Listening, writing, talking, reading, nonverbal expression)?
5. What are the expectations when using technology to communicate with customers?

Part III: Proactive Practices

Evaluate the practices in place to avoid challenging situations. What are the practices in place in your business to demonstrate:

1. Respecting the customer’s time
2. Keeping a positive attitude
3. Recognizing regular customers
4. Maintaining professional communication
5. Showing initiative

For each of the above, list the expectation(s) and provide an example of when it was done.

The paper should be 1-2 pages in length, double spaced with a font size not larger than 12 point, New Times Roman.

Correct APA formatting is required, including proper references and in-text citations.

Business Plan Part 2

Insert Name of Your Business

 

Instructions:

Part 2 of your business plan consists of Sections 3 and 7 below, which is consistent with the readings for Module 3.

Note: The numbers are purposefully out of sequence. You will fill in the rest of the information in future modules.

1. Retain the numbers/headers.

2. DELETE ALL INSTRUCTIONS, so your business plan is not structured in question and answer format.

3. Submit YOUR OWN WORK! Do not copy/paste content from the Internet or from a pre-written b-plan. If you do, you will be at risk for plagiarism and the consequences.

4. When you incorporate outside research, be sure to reference your resources. Either the footnote method or APA (in-text and end Reference) format is required.

After receiving feedback, you will amend and incorporate these segments into your final business plan.

 

3. Company Products and Services

 

Provide a detailed description of your product and/or service offering. Attributes to consider include:

· Brand name

· Convenience item vs. specialty good

· Size or Model

· Etc..

What are you going to offer customers and why? What will they get with purchase? This is the good and the service! See the Module 2 discussions to get ideas from other companies. What makes them different? What will you offer?

 

 

7. Marketing Strategy

 

A. Target Market

Identify and describe your target market and the industry in which you will be competing, along with the market positioning and image of your product. Include a demographic and psychographic profile of significant customer characteristics.

Outside research is REQUIRED for the CUSTOMER DEMOGRAPHICS of the business plan. BE SURE TO CITE YOUR REFERENCE SOURCES BY PROVIDING DIRECT URL LINKS!

For the purpose of this assignment, you can make up information when providing a psychographic profile, only, for your target market. But, be sure to denote it with an asterisk* as made-up information, such as: This target market is brand loyal* (denotes made-up information).

 

1. Customer Demographics

a. Number of potential buyers; how many customers does the market contain (i.e., what is the size of the market, measured by either volume or dollar size, or preferably both).

b. Geographic location of the customers

c. Characteristics of buyers (age, income, occupation, education, sex, family size, race) **Refer to the Demographics and Psychographics information that follows for helpful hints which, among other things, provides a great URL to a U.S. Census site to begin your research. DEMOGRAPHICS HELPFUL HINTS DEMOGRAPHICS include such variables as population characteristics, such as age, income, education, race, etc. Suppose you decide to open a retail store in Denver, Colorado, which means Denver is the geographic area for your target market. The best place to obtain the demographic information you need is through the Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/en.html

If you go to the top of the page, you'll see a pulldown screen where you can change the county and state, and get this kind of information for every county in the nation. Be sure to cite your URL reference in your assignment when quoting statistics of this kind, as follows: "According to the 2002 Census Bureau, the adult population in Denver is...." (insert URL).

2. Customer Psychographics

Some considerations for you to include are:

· What motivates buyers to buy?

· Can any consumer preferences be identified? Identify individual influences (attitudes, needs, motives, perceptions).

· Identify environmental influences (cultural influences, social groups, reference groups, family influences)

· Which product features influence customers’ buying decisions?

· How do buyers buy (brand specifications or not, impulse vs. planned, cash or credit, size of purchase)?

· Where do buyers buy (urban, suburban, rural, trading center, local type stores)?

· When do buyers buy; what’s the potential annual purchases and nature of buying cycle (time of week, month, and year; frequency of purchase)? Is this product a durable good that lasts for years or is it a product that is repurchased on a regular basis?

· What is the desired image in the marketplace?

· Identify individual influences (attitudes, needs, motives, perceptions) **Remember to insert reference source and link, if you have integrated outside research. PSYCHOGRAPHICS HELPFUL HINTS Psychographics is the analysis of a person's daily patterns of living as expressed in that person's activities, interests, and opinions. You can think of this concept in terms of what and why buyer's buy things (a lifestyle analysis). Why buyers buy:

· Individual influences, such as attitudes, needs, motives, perceptions

· Environmental influences: cultural influences, social groups, reference groups, family influences

How buyers buy:

· Brand specifications or not

· Impulse or planned purchase

You can do some research to populate this section, or you can make up information -- but, if you make up information, it needs to be denoted with a superscript asterisk, as follows: The target market for a Mountaineer SUV is 34.8 years old male, married, lives in a three-bedroom home, and has 2.3 children (these are all demographic indicators). He is a community-oriented consumer with traditional values who especially enjoys spectator sports and spends much time on other family activities.* (made-up information based on an assumed lifestyle profile). B. Promotion Mix and Sales Strategy Specifically identify which of the following elements of the promotion mix you will use and explain why (chapters 9-10 in the e-text): 1. Publicity (pages 347-351)

2. Social networking (pages 354-361)

3. E-commerce (chapter 10)- what will your web site presence look like? What promotions will you offer? How will you communicate with the customer after the point of sale? What efforts will you put in to retain the relationship?

 

C. Pricing Strategy Describe your pricing strategy and objectives, as it pertains to the product life cycle. Consider the following:

· Stage of the Product Life Cycle

· Will you enter the market as a high, medium, or low-cost provider?

· Do you plan to implement a skimming, penetration, or other pricing strategy?

· Is your objective to obtain volume or profitability?

· How does your product/service compare with that of your competition?

· Will you offer discounts and allowances, cash discounts, trade-ins, promotional allowances?