252262 - Resolve Customer Service problems

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Resolve Customer Service problems

US 252262

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

SO 1- Deal with customer service
problems

AC 1- The importance of maintaining
customer service levels is explained in
the context of the service industries

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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What is service? 1

• work done by one person or group that
benefits another;

• act of help or assistance;
• act of public worship
• a company or agency that performs a public

service;
• employment in or work for another;
• military service:

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

What is service? 2

• avail: a means of serving;
• tableware
• servicing: the act of mating by male animals;
• (law) the acts performed by an English feudal

tenant for the benefit of his lord
• serve: (sports) a stroke that puts the ball in

play;

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

What is service? 3

• be used by;
• the act of delivering a writ or summons

upon someone; "he accepted service of
the subpoena"
• make fit for use; "service my truck";

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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Service in a Service Industry

• Work done by one person, or group,
which benefits another

• Customer service is an organization's
ability to supply their customers' wants
and needs

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Excellent Service

"Excellent customer service
is the ability of an

organisation to constantly
and consistently exceed the
customer's expectations."

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

How to Provide Best Customer Service

• Be Consistent
• Meet Customer Requirements

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Six Customer Service Strategies That Win

1. Stay in Touch
2. Make Great Service a Culture
3. Store Collective Wisdom
4. Empower Your Staff
5. Know Your Customers
6. Manage Customer Relationships

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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How poor customer service can affect your business 1

• Customer feels ignored when complaints
unresolved

• Customer loses trust in your company when you
don't answer them

• Dissatisfied customers share complaints with
other potential customers

• You lose both existing and prospective customers

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

How poor customer service can affect your business 2

In most cases the customer will not complain…..he
simply will not return

No amount of advertising can replace “word of mouth” -
bad service has the biggest, negative, impact on your
business
It takes an enormous effort to recover from bad
experiences.

10/100/1000 Rule

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AC 2 Information from customers about
customer service problems they have
raised are gathered and interpreted
according to organisational requirements.

AC 5 Problems are identified and recorded
and the appropriate function/section/
department alerted.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Ensure that complaints are not repeated 1

• Gather all the complaints
• File them by, type, product, salesperson,

area, division etc.
• Record the individual complaints, in detail,

in a central data base
• Record them by category listed in 2. above
• Fully analyse the complaints

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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Ensure that complaints are not repeated 2

• Advise the all departments at the root of
the problem

• Strategise and plan your corrective actions
• Feed back to the parties concerned
• Feedback to the complainant.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 3 Customers are asked appropriate
questions to check understanding of

their customer service problems.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Get effective feedback - confirming questions

• Do I understand you correctly? You said……(repeat the
comment)

• You are referring to the Model A specifically?
• You bought the item on January 17th. Is this correct?
• Did you read and understand the instructions?
• You said that the salesperson explained the terms of the

warrantee. Is this correct?
• Did you say you were aware of the product limitations?
• It will take about 2 weeks to reply to your complaint. Is this

acceptable to you?

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 4 Problems are directed to the
relevant function/section/department

for input and/or assistance

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Directing problems - remember

• Departments will not be aware of any
problems until they are advised of such

• Problems can only be cured at the
source, and
The objective is to stop complaints
repeating again.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 6 Customer feedback is shared with
colleagues in the required format to

help identify potential customer service
problems before they occur.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Ideas for preventing repetition

• Identify any trends that develop in the range of complaints
• Analyse identified groups of complaints - common root cause?
• Take appropriate corrective action
• Solicit suggestions from staff
• Feedback nature of complaint, cause and solution to all related

staff
• Implement clearly defined strategy to avoid re-occurrence
• If necessary, set up training program

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Remember!

In any business, you need to develop
a culture of excellence that becomes
sensitive to complaints; with a will to
correct them to the satisfaction of the

customer!

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

SO2 Provide advice and support regarding the
information received to facilitate problem
solving.

AC 1 Problems are analysed to
determine the approach to be used.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

1. Identify the problem

– What’s leading the customer to feel there is
a problem?

– Is it something specific or is it an intuitive
sense that things aren't as they should be?

• Can the customer define the problem?

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2. Analyse the problem

How often does the problem occur?
How severe is it?
Any special circumstances that are present when it
occurs?
What might be the causes of the problem?
Can you rule out any causes?
How long has it been going on?
Has it gotten worse?
How is the problem affecting other processes or people?

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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3. Identify decision criteria

• How will you and the customer make decisions
- when it is time to decide?

• How will you weigh the criteria?
• Can you identify independent standards that

can be used?

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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4. Develop multiple solutions

• Don't stop at the first solution
• It may be good, but much better ones

may exist.
• Evaluate alternative scenarios.
• As objectively as possible, assess the

pros and cons of each.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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5. Choose the optimal solution

• Use the criteria you developed in the 3rd
step to choose the best solution.

• Develop a base of support that will
ensure you can implement the solution.

• Prepare for contingencies

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 2 Methods of providing advice are
matched to the needs of the
customer.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Matching advice to Customers’ needs

1. Determine the root of the complaint
2. Analyse problem and its implications
3. Work out appropriate solutions
4. Refer to an expert if you are not sure
5. Decide on the most effective solution
6. Ensure that solution will permanently solve the

issue
7. Advise customer accordingly

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Alternative methods of providing advice

• Solution is simple - simple verbal communication if the.
• Matter is complicated -written solutions where the.
• Issue is complex and involved - personal, or face-to-face,

interaction.
• Severe lack of product knowledge -training
• Application knowledge is required - product demonstrations
• Pamphlets or documents to support the required solution.
• Bringing customer to source of the complaint to involve parties

concerned

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 3 Advice and support are
provided to allow progress to be

maintained.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Typical Complaints Feedback Diagram (P15)

Initial Complaint
- telephone
- writing
- in person

Written complaint lodged

Initial assessment of complaint

Early conciliation
Where appropriate and parties in agreement

Unresolved Resolved
Feedback to all parties
Complainant notified of complaint and reply sought
Further info/evidence sought from complainant

Case review

Further investigation Terminated Conciliation
Feedback to all parties

Unresolved Resolved
Terminated Feedback to all parties
Feedback to all parties

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

THIS IS NOT FEEDBACK!

Continued feedback
is the key to any
successful
conclusion!

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

SO3 Apply the best solution to
resolve customer service problems.

AC 1
Available options for solving customer service
problems are identified in line with company

standards and procedures

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Ways to resolve a Customer Service problem 1

• Provide an improved service
• Change the personnel involved.
• Apply more personal service
• Offer a discount to compensate
• Offer “the next one free” as an incentive

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Ways to resolve a Customer Service problem 2

• Restructure the department to improve the
service output

• Restructure the company
• Change the company’s standards
• Change the company’s procedures
• Outsource required services

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 2 Colleagues are consulted with to
identify and confirm the options
available to solve customer service

problems within agreed time frames

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distributed to any other person without the express written
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Consult with the relevant company personnel

• Who will be responsible for the implementation?
• What resources do you need to commit to the resolution?
• What personnel are available?
• Is there a need for training?
• What are the cost implications?
• Are the correct policies in place or do any need to be created?
• Are the current structures satisfactory?
• Are the reference standards acceptable?
• Do the procedures need modifying?
• Does the company have sufficient capacity or does it need to

outsource?
• What timeframe binds all of the above together?

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

AC 3 - Advantages and disadvantages
of each option are worked out for the

customer and organisation.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

Options and how they affect the
customer and the organisation.

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

1. Provide an improved service

• Customer: Advantage as they will feel
more important

• Organisation: Advantage as they will get
more sales

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

2. Change the personnel involved

• Customer: Advantage if the old one was
the problem. So great care is necessary.

• Organisation: Advantage if the old one
was the problem

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

3. Apply more personal service

• Customer: Advantage as they will feel more
important

• Organisation: Advantage as they will get more
sales

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

4. Offer a discount to compensate

• Customer: Advantage as the service will
be cheaper

• Organisation: Disadvantage as the
customer can become used to it

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

5. Offer “the next one free” incentive

• Customer: Advantage as he feels
compensated

• Organisation: Advantage with little cost
to keep the customer

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

6. Restructure the department to improve the service
output

• Customer: Advantage as long as service
improves

• Organisation: Advantage only if
absolutely necessary. Otherwise a
disadvantage because of the costs
involved

© GMLS material is copyrighted and may not be copied, sold or
distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

7. Restructure the company

• Customer: Advantage as long as service
improves

• Organisation: Advantage only if
absolutely necessary. Otherwise a
disadvantage because of the costs
involved

© GMLS material is copyrighted and may not be copied, sold or
distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

8. Change the company’s standards

• Customer: Advantage as long as service
improves

• Organisation: Could be simple to do with
big advantages

© GMLS material is copyrighted and may not be copied, sold or
distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

9. Change the company’s procedures

• Customer: Advantage as long as service
improves

• Organisation: Could be simple to do with
big advantages

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.

10. Outsource required services

• Customer: Advantage as long as service
improves. Could also be disadvantage if
not managed well.

• Organisation: Advantage if needed and
managed well

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distributed to any other person without the express written
permission of GMLS Management.