Improving Customer Service: Strategies, Assessment, and KPIs

This article discusses the importance of customer service in building a loyal customer base. It covers strategies for identifying customer needs, conducting customer needs assessment, and responding to customer needs. It also provides insights on customer handling procedures, causes of dissatisfaction, and possible measures to improve delivery drivers' performance. Additionally, it explains how technology can be used to improve the customer experience and highlights key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring customer service success.

Running head: ASSIGNMENT ON CUSTOMER SERVICE
Assignment on customer service
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Task 1
Customer service is an important factor in developing a wide and loyal customer base. A
customer service plan deeply examines customers' perceptions and expectations of a company
and guides the company through the process of bringing its customer service activities in line
with customers' needs.
VTI KarMart’s (GM) vision statement and mission statement address the strategic
direction needs of the automotive business. However, there are opportunities to improve these
corporate statements. General Motors’ vision statement indicates what the business aims to
achieve in the future. The company’s corporate mission statement establishes the approaches
needed to push the organization toward its desired future position in the automotive industry. As
one of the largest firms in the global automobile market, VTI KarMarts’ corporate vision
statement and corporate mission statement must agree with each other. Such agreement
facilitates decision-making and problem-solving processes in the business. Also, adjustments in
the corporate mission and vision are needed to support General Motors’ flexibility in dealing
with changes in market conditions worldwide.
VTI KarMart’s Vision Statement
VTI KarMart’s corporate vision is “to become the world’s most valued automotive
company.” This vision statement points to the leadership of the business while considering the
conditions of the global market and the various factors at play. Thus, the following are the main
components of Vision statement:
• World (global market)

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• Most valued company
VTI KarMart’s Mission Statement
VTI KarMart’s corporate mission is “to earn customers for life by building brands that
inspire passion and loyalty through not only breakthrough technologies but also by serving and
improving the communities in which we live and work around the world.” This mission
statement shows a holistic approach to addressing external factors that influence the business.
Thus, the following are the components or features of their mission statement:
Earn customers for life
• Building brands that inspire passion and loyalty
• Breakthrough technologies
• Serving and improving communities in which we live and work around the world
Identifying of customer needs
Strategies for identifying customer needs are an integral element of a company’s
marketing program. Understanding customer needs helps refine product development projects,
marketing communication programs and distribution choices. Companies that launch products
without researching and taking account of customer needs run a high risk of failure.
Research

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Carrying out customer research as part of the marketing strategy provides a broad view of
customer needs. Review published market research on the sectors that target to identify trends or
changes in purchasing patterns. Visit customers’ websites to assess their product and market
strategies and identify opportunities to meet their current or future product needs.
Customer Feedback
A strategy that encourages customer feedback will provide with insight into customers’
attitudes towards the products and services, helping identify how well are meeting their needs.
Set up a forum or poll on the website or on a social media site where customers can post reviews
or leave comments. Encourage customers to join a user group or other community where they
can share their experience in using the products and make recommendations for changes or
improvements. Acknowledge the feedback from customers and respond to requests for
improvements.
Assessment of customer needs
In order to successfully serve customers, businesses must have an acute understanding of
customers’ needs. Using market research and conducting a Customer Needs Assessment shows
customers are willing to invest time and effort into really understanding their needs and can
ultimately secure a lifetime customer. As stated in a prior blog post, the real value of customer
satisfaction surveying may be the survey instrument itself – because it reaches out and asks “how
are we doing?”
A customer needs assessment uncovers the precise needs of customers, how these needs
are (or are not) currently being fulfilled, and what is required to improve satisfaction and loyalty.

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This type of research technique profiles who the customers are, details their loyalty, and assesses
their needs. By conducting customer market research, can find the answers to things like:
 What is the average revenue/income of the customers?
 Where customers are geographically based?
 What products or services are these customers currently purchasing to fulfill their needs?
 What factors drive the decision-making of these customers (e.g., price, service,
reliability)?
 How do these customers make buying decisions (e.g., multiple decision makers, multiple
bids)?
 How likely are customers to re-purchase products/services from?
By truly understanding customers, are able to adapt to changes and keep fresh on customer
expectations. This type of research will also help identify loyalty factors to ensure the business
success. Differentiating self and the way market self is critical in retaining customer market
share, and a customer needs assessment is a key tool in achieving a consultative mindset with the
customer.
Response to customer needs
• Communicate corporate customer service guidelines and policies
• Provide streamlined sources for citizens and employees regardless of how accessed
• Continue to be responsive to customers through proactive engagement and solicitation of
their satisfaction levels

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• Continually assess the services being offered and the available access points to ensure
customer needs are being met
• Continue to evolve our customer service guidelines, policies, processes and methods of
accessibility to meet the ongoing and ever-changing needs of the customers and stakeholders we
serve
• Benchmark service availability and standards and compare with the leading practices of other
municipalities; modify where warranted
• Work to ensure that departments have an effective customer feedback system in place that
enables both internal and external customers to comment on their services and provide
suggestions for improvement
• Conduct service satisfaction surveys with the community and staff to gauge awareness and
approval of service quality and levels both internally and externally
Quality customer service
The key to good customer service is building good relationships with the customers.
Thanking the customer and promoting a positive, helpful and friendly environment will ensure
they leave with a great impression. A happy customer will return often and is likely to spend
more.
• To ensure the best customer service:
• To know what customers consider to be good customer service
• find out customers' expectations

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• follow up with both positive and negative feedback received
• Consider customer service in all aspects of business
• Continuously look for ways to improve the level of customer service delivery.
Task 2
Once one knows what customers want and must have to be fully satisfied with the
products and services, the next step is to “guarantee” which will deliver that each and every time.
Service guarantees are the measurable standards set to ensure that employees deliver a
consistent product. They are the critical indicators of whether the employees are winning or
losing. Service guarantees are the scorecard and measurement of the success.
Causes of customer dissatisfaction
• Not understanding what customers expect. Making an effort to discover what customers
expect from in terms of service and products is the way to satisfying their needs.
• Failing to fulfill customer requirement is one of the major reasons for customer
dissatisfaction.
• Another major reason is poor communication skill of the service manager.
Customer handling procedure
• Intent attention: Listen to the customer, and do not interrupt them. They need to tell their
story and feel that they have been heard.

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• Gratitude: Thank the customer for bringing the problem to the attention. cannot resolve
something is not completely aware of, or maybe making faulty assumptions about.
• Apologize: Sincerely convey to the customer apology for the way the situation has made
them feel.
• Best Solution: Determine what the customer is seeking as a solution. Ask them; often they’ll
surprise for asking for less than initially thought have to give—especially when they perceive the
apology and intention is genuinely sincere (Kyj and Kyj 2013).
• Agreement: Seek to agree on the solution that will resolve the situation to their satisfaction.
The best intentions can miss the mark completely if still fail to deliver what the customer wants.
• Quick Action: Act on the solution with a sense of urgency. Customers will often respond
more positively to the focus on helping them immediately versus than on the solution itself.
• Follow-up: Follow-up to ensure the customer is completely satisfied, especially when have
had to enlist the help of others for the solution delivery.
Reasons for delivery drivers’ failure
1. Inadequate training on service delivery is the main reason behind the failure of delivery
drivers.
2. They have not defined the company’s service vision or initiative.

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Possible measures and recommendation
• E-Learning and online training technology should be used for delivery; there are a couple of
reasons this is the best delivery method. The first is that can create a learning environment where
it is safe to fail, without life or death consequences.
• Carefully track driver and safety records regularly, which will allow customizing training and
focusing it on areas where each employee needs it most.
• Just as much as safety is a necessity in delivery driver training, so should customer service
training be significant. The drivers are the face of the organization in so many ways.
• View training as continual throughout a delivery driver’s entire career. Training should not
stop after orientation—it should always be built upon, much like UPS does.
• Blended learning is a great learning delivery style. Incorporate e-Learning and online training
with on-the-job and ride along-style training to get the best results.
• Train not just on the expected but also potentially unexpected situations faced by drivers. It is
important to empower drivers in a way that makes them feel prepared and comfortable handling
the unexpected, so consider this when designing e-Learning.
Task 3
There are plenty of different KPIs can use to measure customer service and the success of the
business’s customer service strategy.
Satisfaction Improvement
One way to measure customer service is to track changes in customer satisfaction over time.

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Customer Retention
Customers who are happy with the service providers are likely to stick around and do more
business with the company.
Resolved Issues
One can also look at all of the issues that the customer service team has determined to get an idea
of customer service.
Employee Productivity
Different types of businesses use different methods to measure employee productivity.
Cash flow
Cash flow can be a great performance indicator for many different business factors. Customer
service is such an important factor that it can have a significant impact on the bottom line
Questionnaire
1. Do own a car?
Yes/no. ïf no goes to question 4, or otherwise proceed serial—wise.
2. Which car do you own? Hyundai cantor Maruti800 Martinez Wagon Telco’s indicia Marti
esteem opal astral. Any other.
3. Do you think that would be buying a car in the near future?
Yes/no, ïf no go to question 12 or otherwise precedes serial wise

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4. Which factors do you think would influence purchasing decision the most? Price Financing
past financial record brand name Word of mouth shape and size technical aspect After sale
service any other (please specify).
5. Does the company’s past financial performance affect the final decision? Not at all not too
much significant
6. What do you look for in a car’? Rank in order of preference.
Here are five ways can use feedback to improve customer service.
1) Adding credibility
Positive feedback is a great way of counteracting the effects of negative commentary and can
help to increase businesses performance.
2) Increasing sales
E-commerce works best when people trust a website, seller or brand, and honest reviews – which
are highly visible – are one of the most effective ways of increasing trust.
3) Showing responsive
Negative feedback can sometimes be good. It gives an opportunity to redeem self, replying with
a polite, personalized and thorough response.
5) Serving as a business development ‘road map’
Importance of feedback

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Feedback allows trusting the direction is going in. Instead of speculating on what one
think or hope customers want, be giving them exactly what they’ve asked for – and can
confidently move the business forward in the right direction.
Listening to the customers is the only way to guarantee create a product or service that
they want to buy. Customer feedback is commonly used throughout the product development
process to ensure that the end product is something that solves a customer’s problem or fulfils a
need.
The most innovative companies in the world are the best at creating products that meet
their customers’ needs and exceed their expectations.
In today’s competitive business world, these companies who can intertwine product
development and customer feedback will be the ones that reap strong competitive advantages,
have sticky customer loyalty and earn raving customer advocates.
Technology enables faster and better service that customers demand
It is a byproduct of technological innovation. Customers expect the business to at least
have own website, where they can know more about what one offer and answer questions about
the business, products or services (Setia, Venkatesh and Joglekar 2013). They expect to have an
email were they can reach, and they want to answer questions and concerns promptly on the
social media accounts. They want to be able to reach via multiple devices and interact act with
via mobile phone.
Not only do they expect to have an online presence, they also demand seamless
integration among the online accounts and customer service touch points and why not? It should

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be relatively easy to check the Facebook account or coordinate with a customer service agent
they spoke with about an issue or question. Customers do not want to waste time repeating
something they’ve said before and expect to be on top of any problems they have with the
product.
Technology helps to improve the customer experience
Technology gives the ability to interact with customers on a regular basis. Do not miss
this opportunity to gather as much feedback and customer insight as one can to inform the next
marketing campaign or to introduce improvements to the current products or service. Encourage
active engagement with the online followers. Reach out to the target audience. Find out exactly
what they want. Do not take criticisms in a negative light, but as an opportunity to improve.
There are few ways to solve a conflict between the customer and team
member
If you cannot accept customer’s request, you can at least try to help them the other way.
As soon as a customer sees that you really want to help them and not just hide behind the policy,
their opinion about you, your service and your company might change.
Make your policies clear to everyone. The customers as well the team members should
aware of the policies of the company in terms of customer service. Try to investigate the whole
customer journey and come up with the idea of adding more information about it on your
company’s website.
Regardless of all problems your customers will have, the most important part is to do the
conversation closing with style.

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Instead of just saying the generic “thank you for your call, have a nice day,” think about
something more sophisticated.

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References
Kyj, L.S. and Kyj, M.J., 2013. Customer service: product differentiation in international
markets. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Materials Management.
Setia, P., Venkatesh, V. and Joglekar, S., 2013. Leveraging digital technologies: How
information quality leads to localized capabilities and customer service performance. Mis
Quarterly, 37(2).