Improving Customer Satisfaction at Innovative Widgets: A Case Study Analysis

This document is a case study analysis on how Innovative Widgets, an online library for study material, can improve customer satisfaction and reduce legal actions. The document discusses the issues faced by the company, such as unprofessional conduct of customer care employees and lack of coordination between departments. It also provides a new customer service plan and policies that can help the company improve its customer service and reduce legal actions. The document includes KPIs for measuring the success of the new policies.

Running head: CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
CSAT at Innovative Widgets
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:
Assessment 1.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Answer 1.
Innovative Widgets was a widget manufacturing company which manufactured high quality widgets which found usages in
machines which were in turn used in different industries. It is very clear from the analysis of the case study that Innovative Widgets
had a very strong market position but was losing it due to faulty customer management. The members of the customer services team
like Mary often conducted themselves very rudely with customers and did not receive calls on time. The case study also showed that
there existed lack of coordination between the marketing department and production department. The case study clearly mentions that
the company delivered the widgets after the deadline set by the client which caused resentment among the customers. The company
escalated the matter by further dispatching widgets of wrong particulars. This lack of coordination between departments led to lack of
customer satisfaction which ultimately led to erosion of revenue. Finally the review can be ended by mentioning the level of customer
issues often led to certain customers threatening to initiate legal actions against the company.
Answer 2.
Appendix 1: Customer service plan template
Innovative Widgets Customer Service Charter
Welcome to Innovative Widgets!
Our vision and mission

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
The mission of Innovative Widgets should be manufacturing of widgets of superior quality as per specifications of clients. The company would
market the widgets at its own outlets, third party retailers and wholesalers and on ecommerce portals to ensure maximum access of
customers to its products. The products would be avaialble at legitimate prices which would enable small size clients acquiire the widgets as
well. The comany would also provide the clients round the clock customer services on email, telephone also at the outlets.
Who are our customers
Our internal customers Our internal customers require:
Management, employees
Management-Higher profits, Higher market position
Employees-Appraisal, salary hikes, professional growth,
work life balance, secure workplace
Our external customers are Our External customers require:
Business clients(distributors, wholesalers and retailers)
Superior quality widgets of appropriate particulars
delivered within deadline at legitimate prices
We'll give what you need
We promise to deliver a widget that's right for your needs:
1. Superior quality materials
2. Can withstand wear and tear
3. user friendly
4. Durable
5. Safe to use.
6. of appropriate dimesions.
7. Toletant towards heat and moisture
8. Delivery on time
We promise to support you
1. Full time support to buyers
2. Reimbursement in proportion to defective products
We've support our people to support you!
Innovative Widget's policies and procedures that support customer service include

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
1. Round the clock customer support on telephone and email
2. Compliance with relevant consumer protection laws.
3. In case of legal dispute, the legal representatives of the company would appear in the court in the jurisdiction of the client.
4. Round the clock gathering of customer information and conducting market research to cater to customer needs and expectations.
5. Compliance to the RATER model.
Answer 3.
I can point out upon reflection that on the new customer service plan of Innovative Widgets would enable the company to
provide high quality customer services and legal compliance. It can be pointed out that the new customer service plan would enable
the company conduct continuous market research which would enable it to gain information about the changing expectations of the
customers. Thus, the company would be able to restructure the production method to produce goods as per expectations of customers.
I can further point out upon reflection that the new customer management policies would enable the marketing department of the
company gain feedbacks from customers regarding their expectations from the new products which they would communicate to the
manufacturing department. The manufacturing department would as a result be able to manufacture products as per the specifications
of customers, thus ensuring higher levels of customer services. This would enable the company to ensure higher level of customer
satisfaction. It can also be pointed out that the marketing department of the company would have dedicated team of well-trained
customer care employees who would attend the calls of customers and provide solutions to queries of customers to the feasible extent.
The customer care staff members should also be able to transfer the calls of clients to appropriate departments to ensure timely
solution of the customer problems. This would results in reduction in customer issues which would in turn enable the company to

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
ensure customer satisfaction and reduction in legal actions from customers as mentioned in the case study. The new customer service
policies would encourage the company to bring about innovations in the customer services which as per my learning would enhance
customer satisfaction.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Company gains information from customers through feedbacks Company conducts market research
Marketing department collects information and communicates to manufacturing dept.
Manufacturing of customer specific
products
Customer satisfied
Generation of high revenue Growth of
businessMinimum legal
problems

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Figure 1. Chart showing benefits of new customer service policy of Innovative Widgets and their outcomes
(Source: Author)

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Implementation plan of
new customer service
policies at Innovative
Widgets
Marketing
department
conducts market
research
Gain customer data
and market
information
Submits reports to
management and
concerned
department like
manufacturing
department along
with newcustomer
service plan+budget
Manufacturing
department prepares
manufacturing plan
and budget
Manufacturing
department places
report and budget
before management
of Innovative Widgets
and all the
departmental heads
Apex management
approves the plan
and instructs finance
department to release
funds for
procurement of
resources and
implementation of
customer service
plan
Resources procured
Customer services
employees trained
Goods
manufactured
Marketing of
widgets
Monitoring and
results of results
Taking further
actions

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Answer 4.
The plans pertaining to new customer service policies of Innovative Widgets would be submitted for assesement. Copies of the
documents would be retained for future references.
Customer support policy and procedure-collecting market research
Purpose
The purpose of the new customer management policies would aim to
maximise customer satisfaction
Scope
1. Manufacturing of widgets of appropriate sizes, specifications etc.
2. Delivering the same on time to customers
3. Reduction of customer complains and litigations
4. Generation of highest possible revenue
5. The scope of the project would expand into other departments like
manufacturing and procurements
Resources
1. Material resources,
2. Financial resources
3. Knowledge resources
4. Training room(training of customer care employees)
5. Training venue
6. Training room
Relevant legislations
etc
1. Consumer protection laws
2. Arbitration laws
3. Financial laws
Updated/authorised Authorised
1. Greeting customer over the phone
2. Enquiring about their needs
3. Providing them with appropriate solution.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
4. Transfering calls to appropriate departments
5. Followup of customers for future orders.

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Innovative Widghets
Customer Complaints policy and procedure
Purpose Management of existing complaints and meeting clients to reduce complaints in future
Scope
1. Meeting clients to know about complains, issues
2. Reducing litigations
3. Ensuring minimization of legal costs
4. Retaining clients
5. Regaining clients
Resources
1. Material resources,
2. Financial resources
3. Knowledge resources
4. Training room (training of training of marketing managers to deal with customer
complaints)
5. Training venue
6. Training room
Relevant
legislations etc
1. Consumer protection laws
2. Arbitration laws
3. Financial laws
Updated/
authorized Authorized
1. Meeting clients which are dissatisfied to know about issues
2. Providing them with feasible solutions
3. Providing them with new business offers
4. Meeting litigating clients to arrange for amicable settlements
5. Appearing before courts or any other legal infrastructure on hearing dates
Innovative Widghets

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Recordkeeping policy and procedure
Purpose Keeping records of all customer complaints and litigations
Scope Keeping records of all customer complaints and litigations
Resources
1. Material resources,
2. Financial resources
3. Knowledge resources
4. Training room (training of training of marketing managers to deal with
customer complaints)
5. Training venue
6. Training room
Relevant legislations etc
1. Consumer protection laws
2. Arbitration laws
3. Financial laws
Updated/authorised Authorised
1. Meeting clients which are dissatisfied to know about issues
2. Providing them with feasible solutions
3. Providing them with new business offers
4. Meeting litigating clients to arrange for amicable settlements
5. Appearing before courts or any other legal infrastructure on hearing dates
6. Meeting customers
7. Conducting market
research
8. Collating customer details
9. Keeping records of all the above steps.

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Assessment 2:
Part A.
Answer 1.
The case study mentions that Innovative Widgets is a widget manufacturing company which catered to manufacturing
companies. The case study clearly mentions that the company earned high profits in the past. However, the customer care department
employees conducted with customers very unprofessionally which ultimately led to resentment among customers. The company also
delivered inappropriate products after the deadlines were breached and did not provide any compensation. These unprofessional
conducts of the company did attract customer resentment and legal actions.
Answers 2 and 3:
The analysis of the customer call data pointed out two possible reasons of customer issues. First, the customer care executive
was unprofessional while dealing with customers. Secondly, there was no coordination between the information given by the
customers to the marketing department while placing the orders and the products which was delivered to customers.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Answer 4.
Part a.
The performance of the customer service team was far below satisfactory. The customer care service staff like Mary spoke
rudely to customers the phone which created negative impacts on the perceptions the customers had about the company. Moreover,
instead of accepting the failure of the company to deliver widgets of accurate specific and quantities within the set deadlines, the
customer care employees regarded the customers responsible for the delay. Thus, it can also be established that the customer care
employees were responsible for the company losing its customers and revenue generation thereto.
Part b.
The possible causes of customer shortfalls in Innovative Widgets were lack of responsiveness of the customer care employees
towards the customers and the lack of customer service supervision in the company. Moreover, the differences in communication
between the marketing department and the manufacturing department regarding requirements of the customers was responsible for
customer shortfalls.
Part c.
The management of Innovative Widgets could address these issues by training the customer care employees and aligning
manufacturing process with customer requirements.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Answer 5.
To….(Email id of the representative of Yore Mine Co.)
From……(Sender of the email)
Subject: Clarification for misunderstanding
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are really apologetic to you for the inconvenience caused to you from our end. We admit that it there was misunderstanding from
our end. We hereby accept there has been serious misunderstanding pertaining to the consignment of widgets no……The management
of the company is serious worried at these growing issues and misunderstanding. In order to ensure timely services to our esteemed
clients, the management restructured its customer services plan and business model which would be effective shortly. The same would
ensure that customers receive superior services in the future aligned with customer service principles.
Regards,
Part B.
1. Role Play:
A role play would be organized with Mary in order to address their unprofessional conduct towards business clients and to
train her on managing business clients in professional ways. The following would be main constituents of the role play session:

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Part a. Run structured coaching session:
Mary would be given structured coaching sessions to develop her customer management skills. The coaching session would be
given by the marketing manager since the issue of ill-treating customers belong to the marketing operations. The marketing manager
would train the employee on receiving calls from clients and handling their complaints. The marketing manager would also give
training to Mary on handling work pressure so as not to be rude with clients. The trainee as a part of the training session could also be
given product knowledge. The marketing manager would also provide Mary with training on sharing marketing data received from
clients with the marketing department on real time basis. This would reduce the pressure on Mary to handle lots of information of
clients which would contribute towards reducing her stress level. Thus, would be make her less stressed while speaking to customers.
Part b. Asking questions to understand and clarify Mary’s perspective:
The marketing manager should question Mary to understand her perspective to be clear about the factors which responsible fpr
are making Mary irate while handling clients. For example, it could be that Mary had to manage immense amount of client
information which she might be finding challenging to manage which may have been responsible for her irate nature.
Part c. Describe the policy and procedure for handling customer complaints:
The marketing manager should describe the policy and procedures for handling customer issues. The manager should not only
describe the policies but also train Mary to incorporate those policies with its operations.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Part d. Outline techniques to deal with customers:
The marketing manager would train Mary on dealing with customers of different levels to ensure customer satisfaction. For
example, large scale business clients like Yore would require more advanced customer service. For example, they may expect their
orders to be handled by managers or at least assistant managers directly. In this case, Mary would transfer the call to the concerned
managers or assistant managers. Similarly, the small scale clients may not demand managerial participation but more personalized
services. Mary in that case should listen the representatives of the small scale companies to understand their needs and act
accordingly.
Part e. Explaining techniques of solving customer complaints:
The marketing manager should explain the techniques of solving customer complaints. The techniques should first start with
Mary greeting the clients and listening to their requirements patiently. She may be required to transfer the call to appropriated
departments in order to ensure proper services to the customers. The process would finally end with Mary expressing gratitude on
behalf of the company for calling up prior to ending the calls.
Part f. Documenting the coaching:
Mary should document the coaching sessions and the outcomes according to the recording keeping policies. She should hand
over a set of all the documents to the trainer and maintain a set with herself for future references.

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Answer 2 and 3.
Mary should obtain an appointment with the trainer, the marketing manager to take the role play. All the documents should be
submitted.

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CSAT AT INNOVATIVE WIDGETS
Assessment 3.
Answer 1 and 2.
KPIs
1 2 3
a Call/enguiry/complaint procedures
Numbers of repeat
calls
Number of calls
heading towards legal
cases/total numbers
of calls
Number of calls coming
with new request or
orders/total numbers of
calls
b Following organisational procedures
Number of
customer
escalations or
negative CSAT
Number of legal
breach charges
Number of warning mails
from managers
c
Identifying customer issues and opprtunities to increase customer
satisfaction or meet customer needs
Number of repeat
orders
Numbers of fresh
orders
Number of new clients on
being referred to by the
existing clients
d Assissting team members to improve customer services
Number of repeat
orders
Numbers of fresh
orders
Number of new clients on
being referred to by the
existing clients
e Assissting other internal customers of customer service team
Number of repeat
orders
Numbers of fresh
orders
Number of new clients on
being referred to by the
existing clients
f Customer retention
Number of repeat
orders
Numbers of fresh
orders
Number of new clients on
being referred to by the
existing clients
g sales Number of sales
Number of sales
returns/cancelled
orders Number of cross sales

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h Ability to handle complaints
Numbers of repeat
calls
Number of calls
heading towards legal
cases/total numbers
of calls
Number of calls coming
with new request or
orders/total numbers of
calls
i Ability to record and store customer information
Numbers of repeat
calls
Number of calls
heading towards legal
cases/total numbers
of calls
Number of calls coming
with new request or
orders/total numbers of
calls
j Customer satisfaction CSAT score
Number of calls
heading towards legal
cases/total numbers
of calls
Number of calls coming
with new request or
orders/total numbers of
calls
Notes Red means have to decreased. Yellow means should be increased
Answer 3.
Attached
Answer 4.
Qnos Questions Yes No Neutral
1 Are you satisfied with the products of Innovative Widgets?
2 Are you going to place future orders?
3 Were you satisfied with the customer care service quality?

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Answer 5.
A meeting would be arranged with the manager to receive performance data and feedback from customers.
Answer 6.
The meeting would mainly cover three customer service issues. The first issue would be changing nature of customer
expectations. The second issue would be continuous competition from Widgets manufacturers based in China (case study) and the
third issue would be requirement to train the customer care employees on regular basis.
Answer 7.
Performance data and customer feedbacks to identify customer trends.
Answer 8.
Part a.
The following are the recommendations which can be placed before the management of Innovative Widgets to improve
customer services:
Recommendations Rationale
Continuous communication with customers on social media
This would enable the consumers
communicate their expectations about
the products of Innovative Widgets

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Incorporation of customer feedbacks in product strategies
Adoption of TQM and higher customer
satisfaction
Publishing strategies and management decisions on official
website
Strengthening public relationship and
stakeholder engagement
Answer 9.
A set of all documents would be submitted and a set would be retained.