Quality Management and Customer Services

Question: Discuss about theQuality Management and Customer Services. Answer: Introduction The most significant part of a business is the customer. The company profit and success depend on the customers. The companys products and services are used by a customer only. He is going to judge the quality of the product and services. Hence, it becomes very important to retain old customers and also make new ones for the growth of the business. A businesses aiming at success should emphasize on the quality of their product rather than quantity. There is no dearth of competitors in todays scenario (Aguwa, Monplaisir, Turgut, 2012). Customer returns to an organization when he gets what he paid for. Quality is an important feature that an organization should not ignore at any cost. A business is successful when it has buyers for its products and services and customer come back for the product when they get good quality and customer services (Alhawari, 2015). Findings Types of Customers Customers are the one who ultimately pays for the products and services a company produces or serves. Customers can be divided into two segments, and they are as follows;- An Internal Customer- an internal customer can be defined as the people who are directly connected to the organization. These customers are usually an internal part of the organization for example stakeholders, employees, shareholders, creditors, and suppliers. They are known as internal customers because they are internally associated with the company and purchasing its products also (Bharadwaj, Nevin, Wallman, 2012). An External Customer- anyone who is not a part of the company and purchases the product and services of a company is known as the external customer of that company. External customers are the most important customers for a company as they provide the stream of revenue to the company through their purchases. If external customers get satisfied with the product then they repeat their purchases and also refer the companys products and services to others (Bourne, 2016). Customer-Driven Quality The customers opinion of satisfaction starts before the purchase and continues even after the sale of the product. Whatever the case is, the customer has a positive opinion or a negative opinion towards the product and services the company will try to maintain a healthy relationship with its customers. If the company is meeting the customers expectations, then this relationship will bring confidence, loyalty and build trust for the company from the customer. This relationship is known as customer-driven quality (Chris Adalikwu, 2012). When a company tries to exceed the customers expectation and develop awareness regarding changing trends of the market including the technological advances, customer-driven quality becomes important. A customer feedback allows a company to come up to the exceptional level in meeting the expectations of the customer. The needs of customers change regularly, and it becomes necessary for the company to be in touch with their customer to learn about their c hanging needs and, then provide them with it (Dalla Pozza, 2014). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) To improve the relationship between the customer and the company Customer Relationship Management plays a very important role. It refers to the strategies, technologies, and practices that a company applies to mange and analyzes the customer data throughout the lifecycle of the customer. It aims at retaining the customers, driving sales growth, and improving the relationship with the customers (Ha Stoel, 2008). Mainly a companys CRM policy contains four aspects, and they are as follows:- Complaint Resolution- if any customer has a problem or dissatisfaction with companys product and services, then it is logged, investigated, and resolved, this formal procedure is known as Complaint Resolution. The main goal of such a practice is to satisfy a dissatisfy customer. Though complaints are not the most liked thing from a companys point of view, it gives an idea about the wants, opinions, requirements, and viewpoints (Jarrah, 2015). Feedback- a process of obtaining customers opinion and viewpoint regarding a product, services, or the business is known as customers feedback. Getting a customers feedback is very important for a company as it helps to provide the manufacturers, marketers, and business owners with a vision that what they can do to make their business, product, and services better (Jones Ranchhod, 2007). Guarantees-a marketing tool that companies are using a lot is a service guarantee. It helps in reducing customers risk perception, differentiate a service offering, signal quality product and services, and professionalize the internal management customer service recovery. By giving service guarantee to the customers, the company promises one or more types of compensation. Like refund, credit, or replacement in case of any problem arise in the product or services. Though there are some conditions attached with these compensations. Corrective Actions- corrective action means having a systematic investigation by the company to find the root causes of the complaints that a customer has brought and later attempting to prevent such reoccurrence (Jung Yoo, 2016). Is the Customer Always Right? This motto is being taught to every business man that customer is always right, but in some circumstances, the customer can be wrong also. Always practicing the motto of the customer being always right may affect the services provided to rest of the customers and the employees working for the company. Sometimes unreasonable customers waste the finite resources of the company by putting up unreasonable demands and services. If a company continues to listen to these unreasonable problems, then it will never be able to develop and get advance because it will be busy solving senseless problems of the customers. It is better to have few reasonable customers than many unreasonable ones. It is because they will never get satisfied and will harm the companys name by criticizing it (La Yi, 2015). Moment of Truth Every customer comes with a frame of mind as to what he wants to purchase. It is the interaction between the employee and the customer that makes the sale a success or a failure. As per J. Carlzon, a famous management author, it is just the first fifteen seconds of conversation between the employee and the customer that makes or breaks the sale. And this conversation is out of an organizations hands. The front-line employees have such interactions with the potential customers. Thus the reputation that a customer creates in his mind about a company is in the hands of the front-line employees. This is the moment of truth that every company has to learn and also try to make it a success (Liang, 2013). Customer Lifetime Value The predicted value that a company will earn through the whole relationship with a customer is known as customer lifetime value. There is no certainty of how long each relationship between a customer and the company will pursue. Therefore, an estimated customer lifetime value is taken out as per the periodic value. For example, a certain customer will be there for a year or two years. The customer lifetime value changes the thinking of the management of the company regarding customer acquisition. Customer lifetime value helps in optimizing the spending on acquisition for maximum value rather than thinking about acquiring a lot of customer at minimum cost (Mann, 2011). Customer Satisfaction A company manufactures a product or services to meet the needs and expectation so the customers. The marketing term used, to sum up the level the product succeeded is known as customer satisfaction. The level of customer satisfaction is important to measure because it helps the marketers, manufacturers, and business owners to understand the customer needs and expectations and this information help them in improving their business. As per a survey including around two hundred senior marketing managers, 71% of them responded that customer satisfaction metric help them a lot in managing and monitoring their businesses (Morgen, 2012). The reasons for the importance of customer satisfaction are as follows: - Customer satisfaction metric is the best indicator of customers loyalty and repurchase intentions. Customer satisfaction metric helps in reducing the customer stirring. Customer satisfaction increases the customer satisfaction value Customer satisfaction decreases the negative publicity of the product. Customer retention cost lower than acquiring new ones (Ramaj Ismaili, 2015). Quality Gap Analysis A management technique that measures the performance standards set by the business with the measures of the performance being delivered by the company is known as a quality gap analysis. To improve companys performance, a quality gap analysis is very important. It is an effective method that keeps track of various aspects of business, including product quality and the service levels to customers. The feedback of the customers is taken by contacting them, and the data is quantified to make it measurable. The companies are usually judged by the market, competition, and customers. Companies who want to succeed or are already successful and wanted to maintain it take great care in measuring their performance level (Sethia, 2010). Dealing with Customer Complaints No matter how well streamlined a business is, customer complaints are inevitable. It is important that the complaints are addressed and assessed effectively. If a complaint is ignored or dismissed then this way a company is telling its customer that their opinion is of no value. Business owners can take complaint management as a frustrating and time-consuming process, but if an efficient system is developed, then complaints can be resolved very easily (Aguwa, Monplaisir, Turgut, 2012). The guide to deal the customer complaints is given below:- Taking the Complaints- Step back when a customer makes a complaint Before responding give time and full attention to customer to fully explain his problem Do not come to a conclusion very quickly Only one efficient person should handle the situation. Finding a Solution Apologize for the problem even if mistake is not from the companys side Dont give excuses Compensation can be requested to solve the matter (Alhawari, 2015). Active Customer Retention The percentage of customers who were active (made purchases of the product) in a year at some date and expected to be active in the coming year also is known as the retention rate. If the measured retention rate comes to be 87%, then it is good, and if comes out to be somewhere 35% then tends to be a bad retention rate. Retention rate is calculated by taking all the customers in accordance, not an individual. If a company comes to know about its retention rate, then, it can make improvements required in the products and services to increase the retention rate. As specified before in the report, it is cheaper to retain customers than getting new ones (Bharadwaj, Nevin, Wallman, 2012). Customer on a Supply Chain Customers are the most important link in the formation of the supply chain. When a company determines the ways of configuring the supply chain then maximum ways lead to the customer. Most cost effective suppliers will be searched by buyers to provide customers the best value product, and innovative partners will be searched to offer customers the best product. The customers act as the key of the supply chain and their values, opinions, and needs will affect the decision a buyer make regarding suppliers, partners and another part of the supply chain (Bourne, 2016). Conclusion The customers are the most important part of all the business because without them a business cannot see success and gain profit. It is necessary for the company to understand the needs and expectations of the customer. Once a company understands the customers need it will be able to be a success in the market. The report here consists of various parts through which a company comes to know about what a customer want and expects. Hence, by using all these measures a company can run smoothly and successfully amongst its customers. Recommendations Recommendations for the improvement in the measures discussed in the report: - Regular customer feedback is important for the company as it help in improving the products and services the company is selling. Surveys, questionnaires can be given to customers to fill and give their valuable suggestions With the new technology, feedbacks can be taken through social websites. A complaint department can be a useful addition to a company. Special discounts and offer could be given to customers those who provided their feedback to the company. Satisfied customers feedback can be displayed in the companys websites to attract more customers Customers can be asked to suggest the product to other customer and a gift can be given to the suggesting customer for referral. All the companies should regularly access their products and services regarding improvements required in them. Training to the front-line employees should be given by the company as they are the one that makes a sale success of a failure. The feedback of both the internal and the external customers are important. References Aguwa, C., Monplaisir, L., Turgut, O. (2012). Voice of the customer: Customer satisfaction ratio based analysis.Expert Systems With Applications,39(11), 10112-10119. Alhawari, S. (2015). An empirical study on customer retention and customer loyalty.International Journal Of Information Systems And Change Management,7(3), 183. 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