Improving Customer Service
Often customer service is the most critical link to any customers, and is the most pivotal in keeping customers loyal for the long-term. In assessing the performance of your company's customer service department, there are areas of exceptional strength and employees who are creating their own processes that connect with and exceed the expectations of customers. There are also those processes, procedures and attitudes that impede the ability of your company to gain the trust of customers over the long-term. Research has consistently shown that for any company to become the leader in their industries they must attain the role of trusted advisor in their core areas of expertise (Salamon, Robinson, 2008). Changing processes, systems and redefining the roles of key people in customer service can redefine how trustworthy your organization also appears as well (Eisingerich, Bell, 2008). The redefining of these processes, procedures, systems and roles all need to be re-engineered with a strong focus on perfecting the customer experience each customer has with your company (Bielski, 2004). The intent if this analysis is to give you a series of recommendations, anticipated results and conclusions for redefining the key p
ResultsOrganizations who have adopted this highly integrative approach to gaining customers' feedback and then integrating into the redefining of key processes are finding that customers actually contribute to the value creation process over time (Vargo, 2008). It is very important that in applying technologies to customer service functions, from managing pricing quotes, resolving order problems or issuing refunds that employees have a high level of task ownership inherent in each step of these systems being developed (Kattara, Weheba, El-said, 2008). Overcoming resistance to change specifically in the area service-based process improvements is crucial in the improvement of any customer service function or department (Kattara, Weheba, El-said, 2008). Third and finally there must be a continual commitment to keep the customers within the customer service process on an ongoing basis. It is vital to the success of any strategic plan to turn around customer service to gain the insights and ownership of customers you are attempting to serve more effectively as well. Redefining these processes by making them more efficient by trimming back what could very well be many extra steps that slows down your company's response times is an excellent area to initially concentrate on improving customer service. Customer service, seen as a necessary evil and cost in the past, is now being seen as integral to increasing and sustaining the lifetime value of customers in addition to creating the optimal experiences for customers possible (Bielski, 2004). This analysis has centered on how to gain performance of customer service initiatives while at the same time staying focused on improving the customer service experience. ConclusionImproving customer service requires change at the process level first, followed by intensive re-defining of roles, systems and processes that allow customer service employees to own their jobs more than ever before. Second, the selective use technologies that are specifically aligned with the objectives of the employees serving customers is also crucial. Second, overcoming resistance to change in your own organization is also crucial, as this is often the factor that leads to customer service initiatives and programs falling back into a routine way of doing these processes. What needs to underscore the selective applying of technologies to automating and in effect propagating their functionality to a wider base of customers is to first make sure employees have a strong sense of ownership as it relates to the systems' design, measures of performance used, and the defining of how their daily tasks will be made more efficient in serving customers. The greater the employee ownership of changing these processes and automating them with newer systems, the greater the overall adoption and effectiveness of the system. RecommendationsStarting with an assessment of the processes that your organization relies on for the majority of customer interactions, from online and telemarketing-based ordering to first-level order status and order expediting, the key processes of how you are educating your customers need to be first thoroughly analyzed (Eisingerich, Bell, 2008).
Common topics in this essay:
Weheba El-said,
Eisingerich Bell,
Results Organizations,
,
Conclusion Improving,
Advisory Council,
Recommendations Starting,
customer service,
Salamon Robinson,
Advisory Councils,
improving customer,
bell 2008,
eisingerich bell,
eisingerich bell 2008,
improving customer service,
Customer Advisory,
2008 redefining processes,
processes efficient,
key processes,
redefining key,
bielski 2004,
redefining processes,
customer service initiatives,
trusted advisor,
bell 2008 redefining,
|