THE IMPORTANCE OF
CUSTOMER SERVICE
How is Good Customer Service
Achieved?
MARKET RESEARCH
LEARNING INTENTIONS:
• I understand the role
of market research in
keeping customers
satisfied.
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
• I can explain why
businesses would carry
out market research
• I can describe the
different types of
market research that
businesses may use
WHAT MAKES GOOD
CUSTOMER SERVICE?
• Keeping customers well informed of progress
and changes.
• Under-promise and over-deliver – do not set
expectations too high so that customers will not
be upset if they are not met, however, if you can
deliver more than what they are expecting
customers will be pleased.
• Go the extra mile to ensure customer’s
needs/expectations are always met.
WHAT AFFECTS WHETHER
CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATIONS ARE MET?
• Reliability/quality of the product/service;
• Consistency over a period of time – how does it match
up to the last good/service purchased?
• The speed and flexibility of delivery – can the
organisation accommodate the customer’s needs, for
example, can they deliver within 24 hours?
• Courtesy and attitude of staff – from those on the shop
floor to the delivery drivers;
• The information given about the product – was it
accurate? Did it do all the business claimed it would do?
• How did the organisation react if help was needed?
Were staff happy to assist the customer?
HOW CAN CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION BE MEASURED?
ANSWER: BY MARKET RESEARCH
Organisations often survey customers or ask
for feedback to ensure that high standards
of customer service are being met or to find
out if there is any way things can be made
better.
Can you think of any methods a business could
use to get this information?
HOW MANY OF THESE DID YOU
GET?
• a written survey or questionnaire is posted out to
customers;
• telephoning customers to ask pre-set questions;
• e-mailing customer questionnaires;
• holding a meeting of invited customers to answer
questions/give opinions;
• face to face interviews given at point of sale or on
entry and exit from the business;
• mystery shoppers – who act as customers to
experience the service given by the organisation.
• suggestion boxes/schemes for customers to leave
anonymous suggestions/opinions.
FIELD RESEARCH
The methods of market research we have just
discussed are all methods of FIELD RESEARCH.
This involves collecting information from
customers or potential customers first-hand. This
is PRIMARY INFORMATION and has the benefit
of being up-to-date and reliable. However, it has
the disadvantage of being time-consuming and
expensive to collect.
DESK RESEARCH
Another method of market research which can be
used is DESK RESEARCH. In this method
SECONDARY INFORMATION is collected. This is
information which has already been collected for
another purpose but which can be used for a
different purpose eg Census. This information is
much quicker and cheaper to gather but the data
may be out-of-date or inaccurate.
USES OF MARKET RESEARCH
DATA
Results of market research can be useful for
finding out:
• if there is a market for the product/service
• the price that customers are willing to pay
• the amount of competition there is
• customers shopping habits
• new ideas for the product/service from
what customers say they want
TASK
Complete the customer satisfaction task for
the school canteen.
PRODUCT RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT
LEARNING INTENTION:
I understand the role of
product research and
development in keeping
customers satisfied.
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
I can describe how new
products are created from
the initial idea to product
launch.
Product development is about trying to satisfy customers by being
enterprising and coming up with NEW products for them. This can
involve the following activities:
•
•
•
•
Coming up with new ideas from enterprise or market research
Deciding what is the best idea to try
Designing the features of the new product
CREATING A PROTOTYPE (a working first version of the product)
• Testing the prototype on some customers
• Identifying improvements that could be made to the prototype
• Changing the prototype in light of testing results
•
•
•
•
Deciding where to sell the product
Deciding what price to sell the product for
Deciding how to promote the product
Making and launching the final product
TASK
Now try Worksheet 21
THE MARKETING MIX
LEARNING INTENTIONS:
I understand the role of the
marketing mix in keeping
customers satisfied.
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
I can describe the marketing
mix for a range of products
and services
THE 4 Ps!
If a business wishes to meet the needs of its
customers and sell its products successfully
it must develop a strategy based on the 4
P’s – Product, Price, Promotion and
Place. How these 4 elements are combined
is referred to as the MARKETING MIX and
will determine how well a product will sell.
PRODUCT
The good or service that the customer
purchases.
The product includes:
• quality
• packaging
• guarantee and after-sales service
PRICE
The actual amount paid for the product or
service by the customer to the seller.
PROMOTION
The way in which the customer is made
aware of a product or service and
persuaded to buy it. Promotion includes
Advertising and sales promotions.
PROMOTION CONT’D
ADVERTISING – this can be done via
newspapers, magazines, leaflets, billboards,
television and radio depending on the
budget available.
SPECIAL PROMOTIONS – these can be
discounts, eg 25% off or BOGOF to encourage
new sales, free Samples for new customers,
money off vouchers to encourage another
purchase, for example.
PLACE
Where the customer can purchase the good
or service – how easy it is to buy.
TASK
The task for the seller is to: Promote the
right Product at the right Price in the right
Place!
Open up Worksheet 22 for a task on the
Marketing Mix.
QUALITY
LEARNING INTENTION:
I understand the role that
quality goods and services
can play in keeping
customers satisfied.
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
• I can explain what is meant
by the term ‘quality’ and
why businesses should
focus on this.
• I can explain how using
quality resources, quality
control, quality assurance
and quality management can
contribute to product quality.
What is Quality
Imagine you are buying a new mobile
phone. What would be quality for this
product in your opinion?
Quality means different things to different
people, but businesses need to make sure
they are keeping all their customers
satisfied.
Video Clip
Good quality is a difficult process for businesses to
maintain as high quality output often means high costs.
How can they balance quality and cost?
Let’s here what some business experts think:
www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/quality-vs-cost-cutting/10968.html
The Importance of Good Quality
Products and Services
Businesses need to make sure that they produce quality
products that do what customers expect and are
reliable.
Quality is a very important issue for a business because if
finished products do not satisfy customers then the
business could fail. This is because customers will stop
buying from the business and it could face court action
and fines if Government quality laws have been broken.
How can Quality be Achieved?
USING HIGH QUALITY RESOURCES
The stock and factors of production used
should be of a high enough standard to
produce quality finished products. This can
be achieved through using QUALITY
SUPPLIERS, providing TRAINING for staff
and repairing and MAINTAINING
equipment regularly.
How can Quality be Achieved?
USING A SYSTEM OF QUALITY CONTROL
Quality control is about checking at the END OF
PRODUCTION that products are of a high enough
quality. Any poor quality products that are found
are scrapped or sent back to be fixed. Quality
control helps improve quality because poor quality
products can be found and so are prevented from
leaving the business and going to customers.
How can Quality be Achieved?
USING A SYSTEM OF QUALITY ASSURANCE
Quality assurance is about setting quality standards,
making them clear to staff before they start work and then
checking that products meet these standards at EACH
STAGE OF PRODUCTION.
Any mistakes found at each stage of production will be
fixed before the product moves on. Quality assurance helps
improve quality because staff are actively working to high
quality standards and so mistakes are less likely to happen.
MOTIVATING STAFF
There are many methods that management can use to
motivate staff to perform their jobs well and keep standards
and quality of work high.
QUALITY CIRCLES are where members of the
organisation meet regularly to discuss any quality issues
and ways of improving quality. They then put their ideas
into practice and are hopefully able to see their ideas
succeed giving them satisfaction and motivation in their
jobs.
MOTIVATING STAFF
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) is
where all employees in the organisation are
trained to achieve the highest standards and
always look for ways of improving the
production of the product. All employees
take pride in the work that they do for their
colleagues and for the final customer.
Task
BMW cars are known world-wide as cars produced
to the highest standard. Visit the website address
shown below:
www.bmweducation.co.uk/coFacts/view.asp?docID=54
Study the website and list in your jotters some of
the measures that BMW employ to ensure the
production of high quality cars that maximise
customer satisfaction.
CONSOLIDATION
Produce a poster, Powerpoint or 4-page
booklet on the importance of Customer
Service and how a business of your choice
attempts to achieve this.
The business you choose should not be one
we have already studied in this topic area.