Customer Care

Question 1

Customer care

Answer 1

Customer care means looking after customers and ensuring their satisfaction with an organisation’s goods or services

Question 2

Quality Management Systems

Answer 2

Using quality management systems an organisation creates a culture where quality is the responsibility of all staff. The customer is at the heart of the organisation and customer service is the responsibility of everyone - not just those who deal directly with the customer.

Question 3

Mission Statements

Answer 3

The nature or purpose of the business.
The aims or goals of the organisation (it may contain the values of the organisation).
How the organisation will achieve its goals.
What customers should expect from the business.

Question 4

Customer service policy

Answer 4

Customer-service statement or promise
Statement of service standards
Service level agreement
Procedure for handling complaints

Question 5

Customer-service Statement or Promise

Answer 5

A customer-service statement outlines the type of experience that customers will have and how the organisation will deliver it every time

Question 6

Customer Service Standards

Answer 6

the number of times a telephone may ring before it must be answered
how the customer should be greeted – in person or on the phone
how a customer should be addressed – eg, sir, madam, or by first name
maximum times for dealing with customer queries or complaints
call back guarantees
keeping the customer informed – for example if there is a delay in delivery or a problem with an order

Question 7

Service Level Agreement

Answer 7

This is an agreement between the organisation and the customer which describes what the organisation promises to do and what the customer can expect.

Question 8

Complaints Procedure

Answer 8

Complaints should be acknowledged immediately.
Complaints should be taken seriously by staff and dealt with professionally.
The steps to be followed by the customer in making a complaint should be clear.
All staff should follow the same procedures for acknowledging and logging a complaint.
The same staff member should deal with the complaint from start to finish.

Question 9

Loyalty schemes

Answer 9

A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business.
Loyalty cards such as Boots, Tesco and Nectar offer rewards to customers for showing loyalty to the company’s service or product. The points earned on loyalty cards can be exchanged for cash or other rewards.
Loyalty cards, frequent travel air miles, and discounted petrol are common loyalty reward schemes. They are all aimed at retaining customers by showing that organisation values and cares for them.
Organisations can also use the data from loyalty cards to gain information about their customers and their spending habits.

Question 10

Market research

Answer 10

to use customer feedback as a way to improve a product or service
to gather information about customer needs and wants
to identify market trends and opportunities for new products

Question 11

Field (Primary) Research

Answer 11

Surveys – by post or online
Interviews – face-to-face, telephone or video call
Questionnaires
Focus groups
Direct observation

Advantages
Only the organisation that collects data has access to it
Information is targeted and very specific.

Disadvantages
Expensive and time consuming to gather.

Question 12

Desk (Secondary) Research

Answer 12

Financial reports
Government statistics
Trade journals or magazines
Industry sales figures

Advantages
Saves time
Usually less expensive than field research
Data is widely available

Disadvantages
Data is not specifically gathered for the business so may be less applicable
Information may be out of date
Information may contain bias

Question 13

Satisfaction Surveys

Answer 13

Satisfaction surveys are used to find out what customers think about the organisation’s products or service. They help to determine customer views about, for example:

the quality or price of a product or service
the attitude or responsiveness of staff
how a complaint or problem was dealt with

Question 14

Personal Interviews

Answer 14

Face to Face interviews conducted personally by an interviewer to individual, or multiple, respondents.
A questionnaire is used to structure the interview and gather specific data.
Interviews allow the organisation to directly gain the views of customers.
Provides first-hand information about opinions, feelings and attitudes.
Questions can be asked to aid or clarify understanding.
Can be time consuming to carry out the interview.

Question 15

Telephone Survey

Answer 15

Interviews conducted personally by an interviewer over the telephone.
A questionnaire is used to structure the interview and gather specific data.
Telephone interviews allow the organisation to directly gain the views of customers.
Provides first-hand information about opinions, feelings and attitudes.
Since the call is uninvited, there may be a hostile response from the person being called.
Can be time consuming to carry out the interview.

Question 16

Postal Survey

Answer 16

Market research is conducted using questionnaires sent in the mail.
The survey can be sent to many customers (wide geographical area).
The organisation can target customers in selected areas.
Questions must be simple and easy to answer.
Customers can compete the survey at a time that suits them.
Low response rate as surveys are often viewed as ‘junk mail’.

Question 17

Social Networking Websites

Answer 17

Researchers request users of social media to take part in online surveys.
Can gather large amounts of information quickly.
Can only gather information from those who use social media.
Comments are ‘public’ so anyone can read reviews including competitors.

Question 18

Internet/Online

Answer 18

A questionnaire is conducted via the Internet.
Customers can be surveyed across a wide geographical area.
Identifies customer trends and influences.
Covers a large sample size.
Buyers can be classified within market segments and demographics.
Software enables easy analysis of the results.

Question 19

Customer focus groups

Answer 19

A focus group is a face-to-face meeting with a group of customers to provide feedback to an organisation about its goods and services

Question 20

Benefits of focus groups

Answer 20

Focus group meetings provide immediate feedback.
Participants are more likely to give better feedback than surveys as they have agreed to take part.
Being part of a focus group makes the customer feel valued and this can increase customer loyalty.
Customer responses are more detailed as researchers are able to probe points further.
Focus groups are one of the best ways to gather qualitative data (ie, information about customers opinions and feelings)

Question 21

Drawbacks of focus groups

Answer 21

Focus groups can be time consuming and costly to set up and run.
The sample size tends to be small which can limit the value of the research.
Respondents may be too positive as they feel obliged to give favourable opinion.

Question 22

Mystery shopper

Answer 22

A mystery shopper is someone employed to act as a customer and report back to the organisation on the service they receive. This information can be fed back to staff either to praise and reinforce good standards of service, or to highlight the need for improvement.

Question 23

Suggestions schemes

Answer 23

Similar to a survey, a suggestion box is used by the organisation to collect information directly from customers on how they feel about the service provided and how it could be improved.
A suggestion box may, for example, be located near the checkout of a supermarket, or in the waiting room of a hospital. Customers simply write their comments on a card and put it into the box.
It is an inexpensive and easy way to gather customer feedback.
Customers remain anonymous so their comments are more likely to be honest.
One drawback of a suggestion box is that critical or negative comments may lower the morale of employees. However, customers may also come up with helpful ideas for improving service standards.
The organisation might operate a similar suggestion box scheme for employees. Members of staff might be more inclined to report problems or issues with a service if they know that they are doing so anonymously.

Question 24

Social feedback

Answer 24

Social feedback refers to ability of customers to convey their opinions about the quality or relevance of a product or service.

Question 25

Social proof

Answer 25

Social proof is evidence that other people have purchased and found value in a product or service offered by a business.

Question 25

Benefits of online research

Answer 25

Customers are surveyed across a wide geographical area.
Identifies up-to-date customer trends and influences.
Online surveys cover a larger sample size that other forms of market research.
Buyers can be classified within market segments and demographics.
Software enables easy analysis of the results.
However, some people regard online surveys as interference.

Question 25

Benefits of Good Customer Care

Answer 25

Increased customer loyalty and repeat custom.
Positive recommendations attract new customers.
Fewer complaints and reduced likelihood of legal action against the organisation.
Higher staff morale and motivation (which can increase productivity).
Low staff turnover and absenteeism (since employees are more satisfied).
Reduced costs – since less time is spent dealing with complaints.

Question 25

Social media research

Answer 25

An organisation’s social media website (eg, Facebook/Meta) can also be used to gather information about its products or services, although there are drawbacks as well as benefits.

It’s inexpensive and quick to set up.
It can gather large amounts of information quickly.
It only gathers information from those who use social media.
Comments are ‘public’ so anyone can read reviews including competitors.

Question 25

Consequences of Poor Customer Care

Answer 25

Reduced customer loyalty and a fall in repeat custom.
Dissatisfied customers leading to poor reputation and loss of business.
A high level of complaints leads to more time spent resolving complaints (higher costs and lower productivity).