Customer Relation Management - Essay Example

Running Head: Relation Management May, 2008 2 s frustration is a common emotion for consumers with unpleasant experiences. The usual root of such a frustration is poor customer service. Customer service relates to the assistance provided for convenience and delight of the customer. In such an event, the highlight is customer satisfaction and the dollar volume involved is ignored. The service quality is reflected upon the degree of delight that the client enjoys regardless of how much was paid. When customer satisfaction is not met, the threat of losing profit is plausible. Therefore, it is important to get to the root of customer frustration in the efforts to recover from such loss. Customer satisfaction is important for every successful business. The value of such customer satisfaction is perceived with the principle that one satisfied customer will tell a friend or two, but an angry customer will broadcast to at least ten people about his dissatisfying experience. Such an experience is acquired through service. Service is provided by individuals or employees with direct contact with the customer. It is therefore important that employees handling customers are in their best condition and works with positive motivation to be able to extend a satisfying service. According to Bowen et. al., a satisfactory service suggests fair treatment. In the context of fair treatment, Bowen et. al., discussed that fair treatment bestowed towards the customer is rooted from fair treatment of management to employees and in return fair treatment of employees to customers emphasizing that “fairness perceptions […] are associated with employees’ demonstrating commitment to their employer through their willingness to exert extra effort, to go above and beyond the call of duty.” (1999). Customer 3 The incident reported by Christina Pazzanese of Boston Globe, recounts a dissatisfying service in getting a train-delay refund attributed to slow and inefficient customer service. Considering the amount involved in a train refund, it is relevantly cheap; however, such dissatisfaction breeds anger and frustration on the part of the client. The problem is service related. According to Bowen et. al., “customers also care about fair treatment in connection with two service experiences they might have – the service delivery itself […] and what the business does to recover when customers are disappointed by the service delivery.” (1999). It is thereby essential that when first service encounter with the customer fails, a recovery step should be carried out to ensure that the expected obligation by the client is fulfilled. In the case of Pazzanese’s report, the first service encounter has already failed whereby the train is behind schedule. From such a dissatisfying service, the company attempts to compensate by providing a refund. The refund procedure is another failure because of the long delay that client had to wait therefore defeating the purpose of service recovery. Adding to such discomfort is a series of complaints relayed by the client such as the missing indication of date and time of the refund in the notification slip to identify the specific period and separate one delay refund from another and the lack of rejection notice sent to the client to notify client of the reason for the rejection. These concerns were not completely addressed by the company which reflects poor customer service and extends the frustration and anger of the customer. In such a scenario the treatment towards the customer appears unfair. Bowen et. al., relates that “…customers have Customer 4 expectations focused both on what the promised benefits were, e.g., a nice meal [in the case of the situation above the promised benefit was the refund] and how these benefits were delivered…” (1999). Therefore, the expectation of the customer in this case has not been met which is the unfortunate root of the customer frustration and anger despite the cheap amount involved. Adding to customer’s stretched anger and frustration is the manner that the employees respond to certain concerns or complaints. In the situation provided above, Pazzanese further reported the response of the MBTA company quoting from the spokeswoman Lydia Rivera, “...[b]ut issuing claim rejection notices is too time-consuming for existing staff to handle”. Such a response probes added dissatisfaction on the customer. The response of employees towards certain issues is characterized by the principles of the company; it is the reflection of the company’s outlook and manners towards its clients. As Bowen et. al., have rationalized, “…when employees see management charging inflated prices or applying customer-insensitive procedures, it becomes difficult for employees to take service quality seriously”. (1999). The dissatisfying tolerance of the company towards repeated delays in the schedule of the train shows employees a demoralizing company standard which explains the unsatisfying response of the company spokeswoman which seems to tell the customer that the company is settling at low standards and do not intend to fulfill their obligations towards the customer for purposes of customer satisfaction reflecting poor customer Customer 5 service. Such incident is what breeds the customer frustration and anger because of the issue of company obligation towards the customer having unsatisfactorily handled if not practically ignored. If we will take into close assessment the lines of the spokeswoman, we will be able to detect from her tone that the management has poorly handled its employees. The spokeswoman mentioned that “…issuing claim rejection notices is too time-consuming for existing staff to handle” (Pazzanese, 2007) which gives us the impression that they are understaffed and in which case the management has failed to carry out its responsibilities towards the employees. Bowen et. al., believes that “…if employees are treated fairly, they will in turn, treat their customers more fairly.” (1999). In the given situation above, fairness in employees is nowhere to locate in the problem of understaffing. To conclude the root of customer’s anger and frustration, it is traced down to the employees handling the customer concerns. Good customer service result to happy and satisfied customers. On the contrary poor customer service breeds customer’s anger and frustration. The issue to be reflected upon is the preservation of good customer service – how to motivate employees to deliver exceptional customer service? Shirley Lichti shared that, “…[o]ver the years its been proven that satisfied employees produce satisfied customers. Studies have documented that contented employees have a greater sense of commitment to both the company and its customers. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are more likely to want their employer to succeed. As a result, they work harder to ensure success and provide superior levels of customer Customer 6 service.” (2001). Therefore, the burden of support is carried by the management. Empowering employees will result to superb customer service. Turning the events the other way around will harvest disapproval from customers. Simply put, that the responsibility of customer frustration and anger rests on the management; it is the reflection of management efficiency and competence that nurtures excellent customer service. Works Cited Litchti, Shirley. “Good Customer Satisfaction Stats with Happy Staff.” Marketing Magic. July 18, 2001. retrieved May 20, 2008. http://www.marketingmagic.ca/articles/EmplSat.htm Bowen, David E., et. al. “How Being Fair with Employees Spills Over to Customers”. 1999. Pazzanese, Christina. “To get a Train-Delay Refund, You must Click the Link”. City Weekly. Boston Globe. October 21, 2007. pg 2. Read More