How Decisions in Customer Service Impact the Level of Sales and the Ultimate Profitability - Research Paper Example

? How Decisions in Service will Impact the Level of Sales and the Ultimate Profitability of the Organization Carolina Volpato Argosy University Mixed Study 06.10.2012 How Decisions in Customer Service will Impact the Level of Sales and the Ultimate Profitability of the Organization Introduction Background Customer service has over the years grown into a significant and vital part of any business. For every successful business, customers are the heart of the business. A wide array of research has clearly linked high quality customer service to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, which apparently are important for building an organization’s profitability (Oliver, 1997; Bloemer & Odekerken-Schroder, 2002; Yu, Shean-Yuh, & Yu-Yi, 2011). A lot of companies have invested significant resources in into developing the quality of customer service in their companies in order to increase customer satisfaction and increase the level of customers who become loyal to the company. Gilbert and Veloutsou (2006) acknowledge that indeed customers are the key to long term business success, profitability and growth. In response to a business environment that is increasingly competitive, a growing number of companies are increasingly using their customer service personnel to build long term relationships with clients, with different organizations adopting IT based strategies in order to better manage their customer relationships. The benefits of a satisfied customer are recognized widely in marketing as well as management literature (Sui-Hua Yu, 2007; Palic, Maricic, & Kovac, 2011). Indeed various research have linked a positive relationship between high quality customer service, o customer loyalty in terms of repeated purchases, cross buying behavior and reduce price sensitiveness of the consumers (Ibrahim & Najjar, 2008; Oliver, 1997; Bloemer & Odekerken-Schroder, 2002; Yu, Shean-Yuh, & Yu-Yi, 2011). To this end, this implies that customer service enhances customer satisfaction which builds a long term and mutually profitable relationship with customers. This study will therefore seek to build up to this knowledge on the service-profit chain by analyzing how decisions in customer service within Beira Mar Mall impacts the level of sales and the ultimate profitability of the organization. Problem Statement Most organizations have to deal with the issues of high quality customer service and the impact that such services have on corporate profitability in their course of business. This research considers the relation between these two specifically analyzing the impact that customer service decisions have on company sales and hence profitability. Company sales and profitability are in this case impacted by high customer loyalty due to their satisfaction with the quality of services that they receive. Over the past two decades there has been an increase in customer focused strategies towards increasing company growth. Notably in the new economics of customer service orientation, customers are the central concern of the management of any of any organization. In this sense, the management focuses on factors that drive profitability within the service paradigm ranging from training and development of customer service, compensation that is linked to performance, investment in customer service management systems, and investment in frontline employees (Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser, Jr, & Schlesinger, 2008). There has been a wide array of research that has been carried out on the connection between customer service, customer loyalty and the impact that these have on profitability within an organization. While a lot of study have focused on fast consumer moving goods or the financial products or service (Bloemer & Odekerken-Schroder, 2002; Yu, Shean-Yuh, Yu-Yi, 2011; Sui-Hua Yu, 2007; Palic, Maricic, & Kovac, 2011), none has looked into the mass merchandising sector. This paper focuses on this sector by analyzing consumer shopping behavior and customer service in Beira Mar Mall, which houses a wide array of stores ranging from grocery, jewellery, clothing, shoes, toys, luxury goods to a movie theater. The paper will evaluate how decisions in customer service within Beira Mar Mall impacts the level of sales and the ultimate profitability of the organization Purpose of Study The purpose of this study “How Decisions in Customer Service will Impact the Level of Sales and the Ultimate Profitability of the Organization” is to test the theory of Profitability and the interaction of customers in making the company successful that compares the value of the decisions in the customer services implemented to gain profit. In this way, the independent variable (decisions in the customer services) can be measured or selected or can be manipulated, which would influence the dependent variable (level of sales and Profit of the Organization). In this way, the dependent variable can be defined as the variable that is not in the control of researcher. It can only be measured and observed with reaction of independent variable. Over arching Research Questions or Theory How can managerial decisions affect the quality of customer service? Can a good customer service lead to customer loyalty? What is the significance of customer loyalty in relation to profits realized by the organization? Specific Research Questions / Philosophical Underpinnings Decisions made by the managers with regards to a positive or negative reinforcement can affect employees’ attitude and behavior at work. Therefore, it is necessary to ask the question “How management decision-making can affect the quality of customer service?” This study assumes that a good customer service quality can lead to customer loyalty which then can create a positive effect over the company’s sales and profitability (Bell, Auh& Smalley, 2005). Therefore, it is necessary to ask the question “Can a good customer service lead to customer Loyalty?” Basically, doing so will allow the researcher to examine the truth behind the research assumption. Significance of the Study This study is important as it will not only add new knowledge into customer service literature, but will also provide important information to business practitioners on the best practices to adopt in order to improve customer service, and the various customer service strategies that are most appreciated by customers which makes them go back again and again to purchasing a particular product. In addition, this research study also acts a base for further research that is to be carried out in this area of study. The rationale for carrying out the study is the very essence that previous researches have linked customer service to customer loyalty, which is critical in profitability of the company (Bell, Auh& Smalley, 2005; Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser, Jr, & Schlesinger, 2008). This research seeks to identify whether this is so for a mass merchandising business operations and specifically focuses on Beira Mar Mall. General Demographic Characteristics of the Target Population The Target population from whom the sample population will be derived will mainly consist the customers who frequent Beira Mar Shopping mall. They will mainly be above the age of eighteen and with some sort of income. This population will be studied order to understand the customer services that they appreciate most and which make them come back and again to do their shopping from the mall. In addition, the management of Beira Mar Mall will also be interviewed in order to understand the customer service decisions that they have made over the past five years that add value to their customers and which have impacted the profitability of the business as a whole. Literature Review The significance of customer service has been widely emphasized by a wide array of academicians and researchers. This is mainly due to the ability of having a satisfied customer that such services have. Notably the significance of customer satisfaction in today’s dynamic business environment cannot be understated. The higher the customer satisfaction with the services provided the higher their repurchase intensions would probably be (Mohsan, et al, 2011). There have been a wide range of research studies that have linked customer service t customer loyalty and profitability. This section provides a summary of these research studies. Customer service has been gaining increasing attention from researchers and business practitioners alike as it is a fundamental tool for enhancing customer loyalty and hence organizational profitability and performance (Mohsan et al, 2011). The significance in satisfying customers cannot be overlooked as happy customers tell others. Kotler and Keller (2006) define customer service as activities offered to customers in order to enhance their customer experience. Dehghan, Zenouzi, and Albadvi (2012) have noted that such customer service enhance service quality and customer satisfaction which is critical for the success of any business. Customer satisfaction is often arrived at when the services offered exceed the expectations of those being served (Dehghan & Shanin, 2011). In this way it enhances the establishment of a long term customer relationship (Bloemer & Odekerken-Schroder, 2002; Yu, Shean-Yuh, Yu-Yi, 2011). Service Quality and customer satisfaction The changing business paradigm towards customer service oriented businesses has made service quality a top priority in business operations (Yu, Shean-Yuh, & Yu-Yi, 2011). Jain and Gupta (2004) point out those customer evaluations on the quality of service they get from companies are critical for businesses to be able to improve both their service offerings and their marketing strategies. Indeed Boshof and Gray acknowledge that a focus on service quality has a positive impact on a company’s performance and also has the potential of giving a company competitive advantages in the market different from other companies in the industry. This implies that service quality is a significant factor in enabling companies to distinguish themselves from competitors and in building customer value. In their research of the restaurant business, Yu, Shean-Yuh, and Yu-Yi (2011) found that higher service quality had a positive impact on customer loyalty with most customers repeatedly purchasing from the same business due to the quality of the service offered in such business. This finding was supported by Polyorat and Sophinsiri (2010) and Kahn (2010) who noted that customers who received high quality services were willing to spend more for the high quality service. To this end customer quality is highly linked to business performance in the sense of repeated sales. Other researchers have linked service quality to customer satisfaction. Spreng and Machoy (1996) for instance showed that customer satisfaction strongly influenced repurchase intention of customers which in turn is significant is important in ensuring a continued growth in an organization's long term revenue. However in the case the customers do not return, they may spread word to other potential customers of the high quality services they received (Roig, Garcia, Tena, Monzonis, 2006). In this sense, customer satisfaction enhances word of mouth advertisement as customers’ shares their experiences (Mohsan, et al, 2011). Increased satisfaction in the long term enhances customer loyalty which is critical in building company value and profitability (Heskett, et al, 2008). Customer loyalty and Company profitability Customer loyalty which implies a customer trust in a given product or service or brand and their continual usage of such brand, is a key strategy that most businesses try to attain. It creates mutual benefits both to the company and the customers (Reichheld & Detrick, 2003). Such benefits include, increased revenues of the firms due to repeated purchases, loyal customers who are willing to purchase more frequently, and are willing to recommend the products or services to others potential customers. In addition, loyal customers are often willing to spend more on new services or products that are provided by the company (Yu, Shean-Yuh, and Yu-Yi, 2011) Heskett, et al (2008) in their service-Profit chain analysis noted that customer loyalty is the key driver of growth and profitability in various high performing firms. They note that that a rise in customer loyalty by 5% can positively influence profits to rise from “25% to 85%” (pp. 120). Customers nowadays are value oriented and therefore place great emphasis on the service they receive in relation to the cost they pay. Those that exceed their expectation enhance their satisfaction and in turn increase customer retention and satisfaction. Amoako (2012) affirms this notion and emphasizes the significance of continually improving customer service in order for a business to maintain its competitive advantage in the market place, and also to get a bigger market share of customers due to high customer retention. Aflaki and Popescu (2011) emphasis the above findings by developing a firm-client relationship model based on a wide array o empirical evidence to show case the impact of expectations in service quality on customer retention within a firm and subsequent impact on profitability of the firm. From this model they conclude that firms extract high long term profits and value by managing customer services in their firms in a way that such services add value to customer’s overtime. An optimal service level in this case is one that is dynamic and changing based on customer needs and based on competitive pressures in the market. A stagnant service that is not changing is in the long run not effective in building value both to the customers and to the firm. The literature search shows that indeed customer service positively impacts customer loyalty which in turn increases the profitability of a firm. However most of the research carried out mainly focus on fast consumer moving goods or the financial products or service (Bloemer & Odekerken-Schroder, 2002; Yu, Shean-Yuh, Yu-Yi, 2011; Sui-Hua Yu, 2007; Palic, Maricic, & Kovac, 2011), none has looked into the mass merchandising sector. Besides, most of the researches have worked under the assumption that customers who are satisfied return to purchase more. This may not be so, and this research study will also focus on repeated sales. In essence therefore, this paper focuses on the mass merchandising sector by analyzing consumer shopping behavior and customer service in Beira Mar Mall, which houses a wide array of stores ranging from grocery, jewellery, clothing, shoes, toys, luxury goods to a movie theater. The paper will evaluate how decisions in customer service within Beira Mar Mall impacts the level of sales and the ultimate profitability of the organization. Methodology Design This research study will use both mixed research methods in carrying out the study. In the Mixed methods research refers to those studies or lines of inquiry that integrate one or more qualitative and quantitative techniques for data collection and/or analysis. For qualitative research method a case study approach will be taken with special focus on Beira Mar Mall. In this research design data will be collected through semi structured interviews from the management of Beira Mar Mall on in order to understand the customer service decisions that they have made over the past five years that add value to their customers and which have impacted sales and the profitability of the business as a whole. The qualitative approach will be appropriate in this collecting information from the management as it will enable deep rich data to be gathered concerning the customer service decisions that have been made in the business over the past decade (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2003). In carrying out the qualitative research, the hypotheses that seek to be resolved are: H1: Rewarding employees through work recognition can increase employees’ ability to deliver outstanding customer service. (Parameter ?1); H2: Rewarding employees with material prices such as cash bonuses can increase employees’ ability to deliver outstanding customer service. (Parameter ?2). For quantitative method, the research design will be descriptive where the relationship between variables will be determined. In this, questionnaires will be used to survey customers within the mall to understand the customer services that they appreciate most and which make them come back and again to do their shopping from the mall. Quantitative method is appropriate for gathering and analyzing this data as the population sample that will be under review will exceptionally be high for all of them to be interviewed. Besides quantitative approach will help in standardizing specific items that are being measured in the study (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2003). In this case, the hypothesis tested will be: H3: A good customer service quality can increase customer loyalty. (Parameter ?3); and H4: Customer loyalty increases the company’s sales and profitability. (Parameter ?4). In addition, observational method will be used to observe customers before they are asked to take part in the survey. This is so as to identify the suitable customers who are not either window shoppers or under age. Using a mixed methods approach in this research study will not only enable effective gathering of information, but both methods will also help in canceling out the weaknesses of each other. Participants of the study To determine how management decision-making can affect the quality of customer service and whether a good customer service lead to customer loyalty or not, a primary research survey study will be conducted on 150 customers to test the hypotheses above. The research study will mainly target those who are above the age of eighteen and with some sort of income, in order to reduce the probability the window shoppers. The study will in addition, aim to interview three management executives from Beira Mar Mall, but will be open to more if the company wills to provide. Part of the research objectives is to determine how management decision-making can affect the quality of customer service. Therefore, regardless of gender, ethnicity, marital status and educational background, qualified research survey respondents for this study include individuals more than 18 years of age who are currently employed. Kline (1998, p. 12) mentioned that a bigger sample size is necessary to avoid sampling error. For this reason, a total of 150 research survey respondents will be invited to participate in this study. The sample of 150 customers is suitable for this survey. This is because about 20% of those who visit the malls may be mere window-shoppers and hence may not fit the criteria of a good customer for the survey. For this reason, it is imperative that a large number of about 150 customers are taken to dilute the effects of window-shoppers. According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003, p. 213), ‘convenience sampling’ aims to gather a sample population that is immediately and readily available or easily accessible to the researcher. Using this particular non-probability sampling, the actual recruitment process will be conducted in “Beira Mar Mall” where most of the employed individuals would be relaxing during weekends. Since highly qualified research survey respondents include only individuals more than 18 years of age who are currently employed, not all individuals who will be invited to participate in this study will be included. Data Collection Instruments The data collection instruments will mainly include a fifteen point questionnaire (see Appendix 1) with specific questions aimed at getting answers to the research questions, and will also include a seven point interview question sheet (see appendix 2) that will a guide to interview questions to be asked to the management. Some of the core issues that will be investigated using these instruments include (1) demographic profile of the research survey participants; (2) determining how management decision-making can affect the quality of customer service; and (3) determining whether or not a good customer service lead to customer loyalty. In addition, a notebook for taking short note in the interview will be used and if consent is given, so would a tape recorder to record information in the interview. Procedure for the study In this research, the independent variables are the decisions in the customer services that could be selected or manipulated and dependent variables are the level of sales and profit of the organization, as the level of sales and profit of the organization have a linkage with the decisions in the Customer services, however, researcher is unable to control or make alteration directly to the dependent variables, the dependent variable changes as the independent variable changes. The data gathered from the interview will mainly analyze decisions in customer services that the management has made. It will also be used to analyze sales and profits of the organization. The data gathered from customers using questionnaires will help in determining how the customers responded to the customer services offered in Beira Mar Mall, and whether there were repeated sales. Procedure for Securing informed consent and collecting data In securing informed consent, a consent form (see appendix 3) will be presented to the management of Meira Mer Mall for permission to conduct a research study within their organization on the impact that customer service impacts sales and profitability of the mall. In this, the management will consent both to interviewing management executives within the mall, and to the approach of customers in the mall for them to take part in the survey. With agreed consent, customers will be approached and asked if they would like to take part in the survey of customer services offered at the mall. Those who agree to the survey will provide their email addresses upon which the survey questionnaires will be emailed to them, and given a certain period to respond to the questionnaire and return it to the sending email address. Limitations of the study Based on the proposed research recruitment process, there are some difficulties in which the researcher may encounter when searching for highly qualified research survey respondents. Some people who go to malls during weekends may be spending some quality time with their loved ones. Therefore, most of them may not be eager to participate in a research survey study. To manage such difficulty, the research will have to apply the use observational method before approaching a potential research survey respondent. Utilizing the observational method for the research would be best as the higher ranked officers may consider it inappropriate to reply to the questionnaire and asking the visitors to answer the questionnaire may not suitably fit the criteria. For this reason a larger sampling size may resolve the situation. Another limitation to the study is that the study will work under the assumption that repeated sales to the mall due to effective customer service strategies employed imply customer satisfaction which in turn implies customer retention and loyalty. This may not always be true as customers who are satisfied with customer service and has repeatedly purchased from the mall may not necessarily do so in the future. This is mainly due to customers tendencies to switch their preferences. References Aflaki, S., & Popescu, I. (2011). Managing Retention in Service Relationships. Faculty & Research Working Paper, INSEAD. Retrieved June 22, 2012 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7dd9d41e-9521-4ebd-b418-e7c685cb9414%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=110 Amoako, G.K. (2012). Improving Customer Service on the Banking Industry – Case of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) – Ghana. International Business Research, 5 (4): 134-148 Bell, S., Auh, S., & Smalley, K. (2005). Customer Relationship Dynamics: Service Quality and Customer Loyalty in the Context of Varying Levels of Customer Expertise and Switching Costs. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33(2), 169-183. Doi: 10.1177/0092070304269111 Bloemer, J. M. M. & Odekerken-Schroder, G. (2002). Store satisfaction and store loyalty explained by customer- and store-related factors. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 15, 68-79 Boshoff, C. & Gray, B. (2004). The Relationships between Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Buying Intentions in the Private Hospital Industry. South African Journal of Business Management, 35(4), 27–37 Dehghan, A., & Shahin, A. (2011). Customer Loyalty Assessment-A Case Study in MADDIRAN, the Distributor of LG Electronics in Iran. Business Management and Strategy, 2(1). Gilbert, G.R., Veloutsou, C., Goode, M.M.H. and Mountinho, l. (2004). Measuring customer satisfaction in the fast food industry: a cross national approach”, Journal of Services Marketing, 18 (5): 371-383 Heskett, J. L., Jones, T. O., Loveman, G. W., Sasser, Jr., W.E., Schlesinger, L. A., (2008). Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work. Harvard Business Review, 86 (7/8): 118-129 Ibrahim, H. & Najjar, F. (2008). Relationship bonding tactics, personality traits, relationship quality and customer loyalty: Behavioral sequence in retail environment. The Icfai University Journal of Services Marketing, 6(4), 1-37 Jain, S. K. & Gupta, G. (2004). Measuring service quality: SERVQUAL vs. SERVPERF scales. VIKALPA, 29(2), 25-37 Khan, M. A. (2010). An Empirical Assessment of Service Quality of Cellular Mobile Telephone Operators in Pakistan. Asian Social science, 6(10), 164-177. Kline, R. (1998). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modelling. New York: The Guilford Press. Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2006). Marketing Management (pp. 402). New Delhi, India: Prentice-Hall. Mohsan, F., Nawaz, M.M., Khan, M.S., Shaukat, S., & Aslam, N. (2011). Impact of Customer Satisfaction on Customer Loyalty and Intensions to Switch: Evidence from Banking Sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Business & Social Science, 2(16):263-270 Oliver, R. L. (1997). Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer. New York: McGraw Hill Palic, M., Maricic, M., & Kovac, I. (2011). Impact of Personal Service on Customer Satisfaction in FMCG Retail in Croatia. International Journal of Management Cases, pp. 8-17, retrieved 22 June 2012 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ba5bef35-437e-42fe-b9a9-99b5ab1612ad%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10 Polyorat, K. & Sophonsiri, S. (2010). The influence of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the chain restaurant context: A Thai case. Journal of Global Business and Technology, 6(2), 64-76 Reichheld, F. F. & Detrick, C. (2003). Loyalty: A prescription for cutting costs. Marketing Management, 12(5), 24-25 Roig, J. G. F., Garcia, J. S., Tena, M. A. M. & Monzonis, J. L. (2006). Customer perceived value in banking services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24(5), 266-283 Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2003). Research Methods for Business. London: Financial Times-Prentice Hall. Spreng, R. A. & Mackoy, R. D. (1996). An empirical examination of a model of perceived service quality and satisfaction. Journal of Retailing, 72(2), 201-14 Sui-Hua, yu (2007). An Empirical Investigation on the Economic Consequences of Customer Satisfaction. Total Quality Management & business excellence, 18(5): 555-569 Yu-Te, T., Shean-Yuh, L., & Yu-Yi, C., (2011). Relationships among Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in Chain Restaurant. Information Management & Business Review, 3(5): 270-279. Appendices Appendix 1: Appendix I – Research Survey Questionnaire Part I 1. Your gender: ? Male ? Female 2. Are you currently employed? ? Yes ? No Note: If yes, kindly proceed to the next question. 3. Age ? < 18 y/o ? 19 – 25 y/o ? 26 – 30 y/o ? 31 – 40 y/o ? 41 y/o and above 4. Civil Status: ? Single ? Married ? Divorced ? Separated Part II Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Disagree Agree 5. I’m satisfied with the service offered in the mall ? ? ? ? ? 6. I’m satisfied with the response that I receive from the staff ? ? ? ? ? 7. The expectations of service required meet the perceptions of service received ? ? ? ? ? 8. The service received is of high quality ? ? ? ? ? 9. The facilities in the mall are visually appealing ? ? ? ? ? 10. The employee perform services right the first time ? ? ? ? ? 11. Employees give clients prompt service ? ? ? ? ? 12. The services received are of poor quality ? ? ? ? ? 13. The reason I come to this mall is because Of the quality in their services ? ? ? ? ? 14. Would you rate the quality of services received as high ? ? ? ? ? 15. Would the quality of services received be the reason for future continued purchase ? ? ? ? ? Appendix II Appendix II: Interview Questions 1. What are some of the strategies that your organization has adopted in order to increase customer service over the past five years? 2. Does rewarding employees through work recognition increase employees’ ability to deliver outstanding customer service? How? 3. Does rewarding employees with material prices such as cash bonuses can increase employees’ ability to deliver outstanding customer service? How 4. Has good customer service quality increased customer loyalty? 5. Has customer loyalty increases the company’s sales and profitability? 6. How much of the sales over the past five years are repeat sales? 7. How much of the profits can be attributed to quality services, and repeated sales? Appendix III Appendix III: Consent Letter to the Management of Beira Mar Mall Consent to Participate in Research Study Title of the Study: How Decisions in Customer Service will Impact the Level of Sales and the Ultimate Profitability of the Organization You asked to participate in a research study conducted by Carolina Volpato from the Department of ….. at Argosy University. This study is conducted as part of dissertation project for the fuldillment of ….. Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. Please read the information below and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether or not to participate. Purpose of the Study: If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following things: Fill out survey questions on customer service at Beira Mall Allow interviewing of management staff at Beira Mall subject to those provided by the management The interviewees may be videotaped Allow information to be collected from the mall over a one to two month period Potential Risks and discomforts The potential risks and discomforts would mainly entail having to talk to customers at the mall which may be uncomfortable to some customers Benefits to Beira Mall The study benefits Beira Mall in the sense that specific customer service factors specific to the mall will be identified in a manner that will enable understanding in areas that require improvement Confidentiality Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. Confidentiality will be maintained by means of coding of data gathered in research analysis, and destruction of the surveys and interview answers after they have been analyzed. During data analysis, only the researcher will have access to the data gathered. Rights of research subjects The Argosy University Review Board has reviewed my request to conduct this project.  If you have any concerns about your rights in this study, please contact ….. Consent I understand the procedures described above. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have been given a copy of this form. ________________________________________ Printed Name of Subject ________________________________________ _________________________ Signature of Subject Date ________________________________________ _________________________ Signature of Witness Date Read More