Intan Shahira binti Mohd Nazri
Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi Mara,
Selangor, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to discuss
the customer service in business organization and factors that lead to improve
it. In general, customer is a party that receives or consumes products or
services. Customer service is the
support offered customers to buy the product that helps them have an easy and
enjoyable experience with the transaction process. It is more than just
providing answers but it is also an important part of the promise that your
brand makes to the customers and it is the key of success of your business. So
it is very important to any organization to ensure their business run smoothly
and maintain the service that provide to the customer. Every organization need
a good relationship with customers to maintain the business transaction to meet
the customer’s satisfaction. There are several factors that lead to improve the
customer service which is any organization need to take care of.
Keywords: Customer service, Business organization
1.0
Introduction
There are many components
to customer service, and you need all of them to truly satisfy customers.
Customer service involves being a kind, courteous, and professional face for
the company. It also involves listening carefully to customer wants and concerns.
Beyond listening, customer service is doing everything in one’s power to
efficiently and accurately serve each customer. Finally, customer service is
clearly explaining solutions to clients. A commonly adopted approach to
improving customer performance is providing them with quality feedback on their
performance. (Shinyoung, Sunmee & Rohit, 2017).
Customer service is more
than waiting on customers. It includes trying your best to make sure that the
customer is satisfied. Working hard to meet customers’ needs is always a
prioritize. Furthermore, an entrepreneurial organization with external
orientation (Sebora and Theerapatvong, 2010) furthermore treats customer feedback
on the market as well as its performance in general and its logistics
performance in particular as cues for it to further explore customer value as
well as increase its responsiveness to customer needs to tighten its
relationship with customers.
Customer service is
listening to customers and helping to resolve their issues, so that they remain
happy and loyal. Listening is such a critical, and sometimes overlooked, part
of customer service. Most customers already begin feel taken care of once you
listen carefully to their concerns. Asking clarifying questions, repeating
their concerns, and simply quietly listening are helpful ways to demonstrate
that you are listening, and that you care about their problems.
According to De Clercq
(2013), an organization’s proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking in its
strategy and actions (De Clercq et al., 2013), entrepreneurial orientation (EO)
may leverage its performance in general and logistics performance in particular
(Cui et al., 2012). Since EO has a bearing on its competitive positioning (Sebora
and Theerapatvong, 2010), an organization with entrepreneurial strategic
posture may be more likely to engage in logistics process innovations to
provide better services for customers. It finds and experiments new ways to
amplify product or service delivery effectiveness.
Other than that,
according to Mai Thuy (2015), Vietnam’s transition to a market economy has been
increasing customers’ awareness of their dynamic role as contributors of values
to the value chain of the organization rather than as mere recipients of products
or services, which raises a further need for organizations to apply an empirical
EO model to more proactively improve their services, including logistics
services, in order to not only address customers’ needs, but activate their role
as value co-creators as well (Mai Thuy, 2015).
2.0
Factors of Improving Customer Service in Business Organization
The most important thing
you can do to improve relationships with your customers is as obviously improve
a customer service. No matter how great the product or service that
organization has been provide or how good your staff is, one of the things that
customers are most likely to remember is the direct interaction or transaction
they have with your organization.
In most companies,
customer service is defined in three different ways such as an activity; as a
performance measurement; and as a philosophy and strategic element of the
company. The definition of customer service varies from one company to another.
Customer service is a process which takes place between the purchaser, the
salesperson and the intermediaries. This process leads to added value for the
service produced or exchanged. This added value can arise in the short run as a
simple transaction or in the long term as a partnership contract. Thus,
customer service is the process by which significant advantages are reached in
a value chain in an effective way (Samii, 2004). If it is not constantly on the
lookout for opportunities to improve the customer service, then the relationships
between customers and organization will stagnate.
According to Chen (2015),
service customers are considered partial employees in the service production
process. This is proven that customers are the key of success in the business
organization and the best we could do is provide a good services and products
to them to achieve the goal that the organization has been target. So to
achieve the successful in the business organization, there must improving the
customer service because without it the environment of business would be
effected.
Positive interactions or
responses by the staff tend to create a lasting impression on the service
quality perceptions by the customers. Kim and McLean (2007) says that customers
were more impressed by the extra help provided. On the other hand, negative
responses can not only irritate the customer but also break the relationship. Hence,
it becomes important to monitor the responses in the most appropriate manner.
This can be achieved by understanding the manner in which we respond to customers.
2.1
Significance
Customer service is
important to an organization because it is often the only contact a customer
has with a company. Customers are vital to an organization. Some customers
spend hundreds and even thousands of ringgit per year with the business
organization. Consequently, when they have a question or product issue, they
expect a customer service team or staff of organization to resolve their
issues. Fatiha (2014) said, communication with the customers: a written statement
of engagement reduces the probability that customers will expect unrealistic performance;
however, it also provides them with the means of communicating with the company
if the levels of performance specified are not reached.
Customers are no longer
concerned merely to satisfy their basic needs. They want to create an emotional
connection with the brand they are buying from. This is because we need to meet
their needs not just rationally but also emotionally. Staff have to create
memorable lasting experiences. Customers are willing to pay more to get those.
They would regret choosing a little cheaper store with a grumpy salesperson
which puts them in a bad mood. Customer service can help the organization
achieve the goal to success in their business.
2.2
Identification
Customer service is very important
to an organization because it can help differentiate an organization from the
competitors. The staff also should think through the communication strategy and
make sure every staff knows how to communicate with the customers so it is
smooth and consistent. staff should not leave customer service up to chance and
random people. It is a serious job and it represents the organization. So do not
forget, the organization need require a proper product training and customer
service guidelines. Moreover, not everyone is natural in talking with people,
so it is a good idea to also train staff in positive communication.
According to Fatiha
(2014), nowadays, companies’ campaigns in various markets are concerned with
services which integrate fast delivery and friendly contact with customers. The
cost strategies have become options which are easily imitable by competitors,
so companies do not represent differentiation for the customer.
2.3
Function
An organization with
excellent customer service is more likely to get repeat business from
customers. Consequently, the organization will benefit with greater sales and
profits. Contrarily, organization with poor customer service may lose
customers, which will have a negative impact on business. It costs a lot more
money for a organization to acquire a customer than to retain them, due to
advertising costs and the expense of sales calls. Therefore, the efforts that
go into maintaining quality customer service can really pay dividends over
time.
The implementation of marketing
concepts involves being able to keep customers by increasing their level of
satisfaction. This makes it possible for a company to invest in the long term
in the acquisition of new customers. In this respect, customer service is the
capacity of a company to answer a customer’s order starting from the stock
available (Fatiha, 2014).
2.4
Customer Feedback
People that have a positive
experience with an organizations customer service team or staff will likely
tell two or three others about their experience. One of the best things
customers can give you is their feedback on your product. Obviously the staff
or customer service team need to treat feedback wisely and do not implement everything
your customers ask for. One of the best ways to gather customer’s feedback is
through the everyday conversations you have with them on chat.
The advantages of this feedback is you
will:
·
Know
what to be improved in your product or service
·
Know
how many customers are likely to live and react at the right time
·
Identify
the happy customers who can become your advocates
·
Improve
customer retention
·
Get
actionable insight to create a better customer experience
2.5
Prevention/Solution
The organization need a
customer service because it is a method uses to satisfy the customers. Other
than that, if any problem occurs it can be prevent and be a solution to the
problems. So this is one of factors that lead to improve customer service in
organization. Customer service is all of the retailer activities that increase
the value received by consumers when shopping (Levy and Weitz, 2007). Customer
services are tangible or intangible value increasing activities which are related
with products or services directly or indirectly to meet customer expectations
and finally to provide customer satisfaction and loyalty (Kursunluoglu, 2011).
This is proven that the customers are the key of success of the business
organization and it is important to provide a good service for them. If the
customer service that have been provided by the organization are bad, it will
influence the organization activities.
3.0
Strengthen the customer service skills
Firstly, it is important
to make sure that the staff or customer service team has the right skills for managing
customers’ needs. This is because, if the staff are not treat the customers
properly it would affect the organization’s name and image which lead to the
business operational damage. In the business area, customers are the king and
queen or we usually hear is “customers are always right”. Customers must be
treat very well and properly so service skills need to be practice by the staff
or customer service team. The organization should take an action to improve the
service skills among staff. There is many kind of service skills that should be
practice such as;
·
Empathy, patience and consistency.
Some customers will be irate. Others will
be full of questions. And others will just be chatty. This is the challenges
the staff should be face, so staff or customer service team must know how to
handle all of them and provide the same level of service every time. It is
important not to against or argue with the customers.
·
Adaptability.
Every customer is different, and some may
even seem to change week-to-week. You should be able to handle surprises, sense
the customer’s mood and adapt accordingly. This also includes a willingness to
learn– providing good customer service is a continuous learning process.
·
Clear communication.
The clear conversation between staff and
customer is important to avoid misunderstanding. Staff should convey to customers exactly what
they mean. Use authentically positive language, stay cheerful no matter what, never
end a conversation without confirming and the most important is always smile to
the customer which is actually would make them feel satisfied.
·
Work ethic.
Customers appreciate the staff who will
see their problem through to its resolution. At the same time, they must have
good time management skills and not spend too much time handling one customer
while others are waiting. Stay focused to achieve the right balance to treat
the customer well and properly. If there are many customers, the organization
should hire more staff in customer service team so there is no problem handling
the customers.
·
Knowledge.
Ultimately your customers rely on staff
for information or knowledge of product and service that organization provided.
Stay informed enough to respond to most inquiries and know where to turn if the
questions become too detailed or technical for you to answer. However, do not
ever tell lies to the customers. Customers will appreciate the honesty and your
efforts to find the right answer.
·
Thick skin.
The customers are always right. The
ability to swallow one’s pride and accept blame or negative feedback is
crucial. Whether the staff or team works directly with customers or looking for
feedback on social media, they have got to keep the customer’s happiness in
mind. They should not argue with customers, if not it will become worse to the
organization.
4.0
Conclusion
In conclusion, customer
support is an integral part of the product experience. Having a good product
without a great customer service would not bring the success to the
organization and vice versa. You would not achieve success with a good product
without a great customer service. So it is important to keep in mind why
customer service is important the organization or company and show the good
customer service to your customers and at the same time improve it every day. There
are five factors that lead to improve a customer service in business
organization such as significance, identification, function, customer feedback
and prevention/solution. Other than that, there are also several kind of
service skills that should be practice by the organization to achieve the goals
and success in business.
References
De Clercq, D., Dimov, D. and Thongpapanl, N.T.
(2013), “Organizational social capital, formalization,
and internal knowledge sharing in entrepreneurial orientation formation”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,
Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 505-537.
Fatiha Naoui, (2014) "Customer
service in supply chain management: a case study", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 27
Issue: 6, pp.786-801.
Kim, N. and McLean, G.N. (2007), “Customer
service behaviours in Korea and implications for training: lessons from an exploratory critical incidents study of
customer and employee service
encounters”, Asia Pacific Business Review, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 1-20.
Kursunluoglu, E. (2011), “Customer service
effects on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty: a field research in shopping centers in Izmir city – Turkey”,
International Journal of Business and
Social Science, Vol. 2 No. 17, pp. 52-59.
Levy, M. and Weitz, B.A. (2007), Retailing
Management, McGraw Hill, New York, NY.
Mai Thuy (2015), “3,2 t đoˆ ` ng dành cho
các khách hàng góp ý hay (3.2 million Vietnam Dong for good ideas from customers)”, available at: http://cand.com.vn/doanh-nghiep/3-2-ti- dong-danh-cho-cackhach-hang-gop-y-hay-356199
Samii, A.K. (2004), Strate´gie logistique,
supply chain management, Dunod, Paris.
Sebora, T.C. and Theerapatvong, T. (2010),
“Corporate entrepreneurship: a test of external and internal influences on managers’ idea generation, risk taking, and
proactiveness”, International Entrepreneurship
and Management Journal, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 331-350.
Shinyoung Kim, Sunmee Choi, Rohit Verma,
(2017) "Providing feedback to service customers: The effect of the presentation order and repetition of feedback
types", Journal of Service Management,
Vol. 28 Issue: 2, pp.389-416
No comments:
Post a Comment