Customer Service Operations of University - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... A university’s customer care viewing from the student perspective segregates it to a B2C service. As a student we expect and we need to know whether the facilities offered by an educational organisation are average or excellent. One can not judge and have some idea about the services through public events and television. Some happenings could be out of the control. Customer care of the University needs to develop the expectations of the student community and carefully manage their perceptions as well. Service cues cannot be same as can be for any other industry sector, for example hotel and restaurant experience (Johnston & Clark 2008).
Therefore, expectations need to be defined to know the quality factors a university needs to set up. The components of expectations need to be comprehended to functionalise customer expectations so that quality parameters could be structured and offered in required levels of quality. It would also help in creating such tools that map customer satisfaction (Johnston & Clark 2008).

Service quality factors, according to Johnston & Clark (2008) can vary for different organisations but at least 18 quality factors have been zeroed-in on the basis of wider application of the quality parameters.
These factors, which are identifications of prior expectations, include: Access. Service offering address should be reachable easily and the road leading to the destination should be free from the roadblocks. Aesthetics. Parts of the service offering should be admissible and soothing to the customer; it includes the look of the building, its surrounding area and services offerings including offered products and staff. Willingness to help. It should be offered by the contact people to the customer and indicate interest of the service provider in attending to customer needs. Availability. Here it not only implies availability of service facilities, staff and products to the customer but the reasonable ratio of staff to the needy customers. Products availability should also be sufficient in quantity and variance to be shown to the customer. Care. The customer expects fair and sympathetic treatment, and extended patience of the staff to make the customer feel at ease emotionally. Cleanliness. The facilities the customer approaches need to be well managed from environment perspective. All physical parts of the service offering including goods and personnel come in the scope of cleanliness. Comfort. It comes with the arrangements made by the facility for the comfortable stay of the customer while visiting the facility. Dedication. The attending personnel’s perceived dedication in attending to the customers and doing their job proudly and with apparent activeness and completely. Communication. The servicing staff need to communicate with the customers in such a way that help the customers comprehend what is conveyed. Communication needs to be correct, clear, concise including both written and spoken language used in providing the required knowledge and at the same time listening thoughtfully to what the customer wants to convey. Competence. It is related to the expertise required in accomplishing the service as per customer needs. It requires following the right processes, exact delivery as per customer inputs, extent of service or product information shown by the contact personnel, offering suggestions and ability of the staff in doing the job nicely. Courtesy. It is related to the behaviour of the concerned staff in attending to the customer issues, which should not be interfering sort of. Flexibility. Readiness on the part of the customer service to mould the service as per customer needs. Friendliness. Attitude of the customer service representative needs to be welcoming and body language of the concerned ...Download file to see next pagesRead More