Unit 10 Customer service Business brief

Philip Kotler defines customer service as 'all the activities involved in making it easy for customers to reach the right parties within the company and receive quick and satisfactory service, answers and resolutions of problems'.

Customers have expectations, and when these are met, there is customer satisfaction. When they are exceeded, there may be delight, but this depends on the degree of involvement in the purchase. There is a scale between the chore of the weekly shop at the supermarket and the purchase of something expensive such as a car that, for many people, only takes place once every few years. The scope for delight and, conversely, dissatisfaction is greater in the latter situation.

The telephone can be used to sell some services, such as banking or insurance, entirely replacing face-to-face contact. The customer helpline can be a channel of communication to complement face-to-face contact. Or it can be used before or after buying goods as a source of information or channel of complaint.

The figures are familiar: 95 per cent of dissatisfied customers don't complain, but Just change suppliers. As the article in the main course unit relates, customers receiving good service create new business by telling up to 12 other people. Those treated badly will tell up to 20 people. Eighty per cent of those who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal, and customer allegiance will be built. Customer retention is key: studies show that getting repeat business is five times cheaper than finding new customers. Customer defection must, of course, be reduced as much as possible, but a company can learn a lot from the ones who do leave through lost customer analysis: getting customers to give the reasons why they have defected, and changing the way it does things.

Service providers, such as mobile phone or cable TV companies, have to deal with churn, the number of customers who go to another provider or stop using the service altogether each year.

In many services, satisfaction is hard to achieve because the customer interaction is difficult to control, which is why service organisations like airlines, banks and legal firms create high levels of dissatisfaction. If a product or service breaks down, fixing the problem may build customer loyalty, but it will also eat into the profit margin. Customers must be satisfied or delighted, but at a profit. If salespeople or call-centre staff or hotel receptionists are over-zealous, there may be lots of satisfied customers, but the business may be operating at a loss.

Kotler says that it Is not companies that compete, but marketing networks comprising a number of companies. For example, a PC is assembled from components made by several manufacturers, sold through a call centre which may be a subcontractor, delivered by a transport company and perhaps serviced by yet another organisation as part of the manufacturer's product support. It is the customer's total experience that counts. Making the computer is just one part of this. The logistics of selling and organising the services needed by each customer becomes key.

Tasks and exercises:

1. Look specially at active listening in interviews. Discuss these ways of behaving at a job interview to show that you are listening actively, and group them into a list of dos and list of don’ts, giving your reasons:

• Face the interviewer, but keep direct eye contact only about half of the time. Do not stare continuously at the interviewer.

• Run your fingers through your hair.

• Hold your chin between your thumb and your forefinger.

• Hold your hands together vertically, with only the fingertips touching.

• Cross your arms in front of you.

• Cross your legs.

• Scratch your forehead.

• Speak only when spoken too.

• Use a polite form of address to the interviewer when answering questions, e.g. 'Sir', 'Mrs Smith', etc.

• When the interviewer asks about your qualifications, show the certificates relating to them.

• Ask the interviewer a question about the job if there's something you want to know.

• Ask the interviewer to repeat a question if you have not understood.

2. Student A is interviewing candidates to head the North American research centre of Novia, a large pharmaceuticals company in Montreal, Canada. Student B is a candidate for the job. Student C is an observer. Role play the interview, showing that you are listening actively to the other person. Use the CV of a specialist.

Karl Eriksson’s CV

- 1999-present Deputy head of research, Novia Pharmaceuticals Research Labs, Reading, England Assisted head of research in all types of drug trials. Supervised staff (250 researchers) in the absence of the head of research

- 1990-1999 Researcher, Novia Pharmaceuticals Research Labs, Hamburg, Germany Worked under research team leader on anti-cancer drugs. Specialised in computer simulations of drug effectiveness.

- 1986-90 PhD in Pharmacology, Stanford University, California

- 1983-86 Degree in Pharmacology, Stockholm University

- 1982-83 Gap year Backpacked round Asia

- 1975-82 Secondary school, Kalmar, Sweden Science specialisation

- Good interpersonal skills

- Computer skills: advanced programming skills in drug testing software

- Languages: Swedish (mother tongue), fluent German and English, intermediate Italian (have been taking evening classes in the UK)

- Interests: Ice hockey, sailing, travel, languages

Student A Head of recruitment, Novia Pharmaceuticals

You consider yourself a sympathetic interviewer. Try to use the language for active listening on page 89 of the Course Book, as well as the extra expressions you found.

You have a copy of Karl Eriksson's CV. Base the interview on it. In particular, you want to know

• why he wants to leave England for Canada

• if he speaks French (the working language of the research labs is English, but he will need French outside)

• how he looks back at his time in Hamburg and the US

• why he didn't go straight to university from secondary school

• how he feels about having lived outside Sweden for so long

• what his interpersonal skills are like. {Ask him how he would deal with particular situations like disputes between colleagues.)

• how he keeps his knowledge of computer applications in pharmaceuticals up-to-date

Student B Karl Eriksson

• You're looking for new challenges in a new job. You think of yourself as a permanent expat (=someone who works abroad), and like the idea of moving on regularly. (So do your family: wife and two teenage children.)

• Professionally, you're happy with your time in Reading, but you're fed up with the weather (and you want more opportunities to play ice hockey, which is not popular in England).

• Hamburg was also a good experience. Apart from specialising in cancer drugs, you learnt that you're good at managing people.

• You keep up with computing in pharmaceuticals by reading a lot and going to professional conferences about it.

• You have pleasant memories of your studies. You like the world of commercial pharmaceuticals. You could never have become a university teacher.

• Your gap year was an enriching experience, and you hope your children will do the same thing.

• You feel you have a gift for languages (but be modest about this!) and could learn French quite quickly.

Student C Observer

• Be ready to provide a (tactful) report on what happened during the interview.

• Note the stages in the interview and the language being used.

• Also note the body language and the way it relates to the language being used, either to reinforce it or contradict it.