Personalized Customer Service: Making Them Even Happier - Term Paper Example

 Personalized Customer Service: Making them even happier Table of Contents Introduction …………….…………………………………………………………. page 3 What is personalized customer service? ……………………………………….... page 3 Loyalty cards and earning points………………………………………………….. page 4 What it entails: keeping customers ..………………………………………………. page 5 The why and why-nots ……………………………………………………………. page 6 A step further .…………………………….………………………………………. page 7 Works cited ………………………………………………………………………... page 8 Introduction The attentive sales clerk, pleasant receptionist and helpful technical service representative are a small part of the one of the most important industries in the business world. Customer service is more than the actual people consumers interacting with a company. The term also involves management strategies that encourage consumer satisfaction and loyalty. After all, customer service deals first-hand with the consumers, the people who by their actions can decide the success or failure of a business. If businesses do not take steps in pleasing their customers, there is a strong likelihood that this would spell the decline in patronage which is the source of income for the company. Because of this, a company attributes a lot of its resources not only in training customer service personnel but also in creating products that manifest excellent customer service. What is personalized customer service? Imagine making your 100th purchase at a favorite clothes store. All the salesclerks smile at you sincerely for giving them another sale for the day. As you approach the cashier, you get another smile from the person, this time a smile telling you she recognizes you. You smile back wondering if there is a little token from them for you making as many purchases as you have. A business who takes extra care of its customers would have not waited for the 100th day this person came to buy something. Personalized customer service goes beyond ensuring the customers are happy with their purchases. This kind of customer service aims to make the clientele very important to the company. In doing so, the business guarantees succeeding visits and word-of-mouth marketing which of course spells more customers. (Diedre) It may sound like a simple thing but without this element a company is not practicing “good business”. “Companies need to give customers what they want, not what they think the customers want (Gaillard).” With customer service at a personal level, the goal is not to make the client feel like someone the business just gets money from. It is finding ways to know what the client needs and to take the steps in satisfying those needs without sacrificing business principles. Loyalty cards and earning points There are a variety of ways to provide personalized customer service. Providing a round-the-clock help desk, having customers’ records on computerized files for easy access by any department or assigning an actual person to talk to instead of an FAQ page are just some examples of how smart businesses seek to attain customer retention and brand loyalty. Two of the most common methods out there are business loyalty cards and the points system. Best Western Hotels, The Manor House Loyalty Card and Hertz Gold Service are just some of the hundreds of loyalty cards out there. Issuing business loyalty cards has been adopted by many businesses, big or small, locally or internationally. The card can be made of paper or plastic and bears the customer’s name and personal details for efficient check and credit card verification. It also has a magnetic stripe so salespeople only need to swipe it to get the information on the card. At times, it earns points which customers can redeem for discounts or freebies. Another frequent technique employed is the points system. Similar to the points rewarded in the loyalty cards, customers earn points through a number of options such as making referrals, signing up for the rewards program or making a purchase from the company or, at times, even affiliate establishments. These points can be equivalent to a number of things such as rebates, frequent flyer miles, free products/services and more. An establishment with a satisfying rewards program can ensure a return on their investment. A diligent management team will be able to come up with a rewards program that offers what customers want. By doing so, the appeal to be a member of such rewards program will result into the loyalty cards and reward points achieving their purpose: pleased customers, return sale and word-of-mouth-marketing. What it entails: keeping customers Indeed providing personalized customer service can do wonders for a business that is just starting or one already well-known in the market. An outsider will probably push for this kind of retention technique on the onset. A closer look at the situation, however, reveals that to have exceptional customer service a business needs to re-evaluate the cost to maintain it. Getz’s, an athletic apparel store, upped its customer service by providing 24-hour service and an online shopping option. It has discovered, however, that it costs twice as much to send an item than manually processed returns. (Chen, et. al., 139) Outsourcing has been considered to cut the cost without sacrificing a management strategy that Getz’s customers have proven to be appreciated. Despite the cost required to maintain efficient and effective personalized customer service programs, the benefits are well-worth the expense. Research has shown that 78% of customers have satisfying experiences with a capable and skilled customer service representative. (Agathou) This seventy-eight percent can bring the company future sales and a solid reputation which are both important in achieving stability in the industry. It is suggested that lack of resources should not hinder customer service. Cost effective ways to maintain customer satisfaction should be explored as customers are the lifeline of any business. The why and why-nots Like every aspect that makes up a business, personalized customer service can have its advantages and disadvantages. All anyone can do is ensure that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages so that this kind of service to customers would prove to be more beneficial than detrimental. Fraud is a common downside to having business loyalty cards. With technology continuously becoming more advanced, large-scale syndicates have found ways to tap into supposedly a secure and cashless way of making purchases. Additional costs for overtime and utilities come with 24-hour customer service. Not to mention, training expenses for representatives who need to help customers without the aid of visual confirmation. Too much time spent on the phone explaining what the problem is can test the customer’s patience. The advantages, on the other hand, may seem simple but they have lasting effects. Businesses who have adopted a more individually-centered customer care program will reap not only monetary benefits but the trust and loyalty of its customers. These can go a long way in helping the business establish a name for itself in the to come. Indeed, as beneficial as personalizing customer service can be, businesses also have to be prepared for the drawbacks that might arise. With sufficient preparation, however, the advantages of making customer service personal can render the business very successful despite these obstacles. A step further The business world will always have two sides: those who make the product and those who buy said product. Like in successful relationships of any kind, these two sides need each other to benefit from their partnership. At this time, small businesses have had more success in providing personalize customer service because of the low expense involved. It is suggested for large companies that have a much wider consumer reach to re-evaluate their management strategies in order to come up with more cost-effective customer care programs. Work Cited Agathou, A. “How to Personalize Customer Service: It’s Personal. It’s Business.” Social Media. thenextweb.com. 14 December 2010. Web. 23 November 2011. Diedre, J. “Why Personalized Customer Service Should Be Your Company’s Top Priority.” Internet Business Today. 16 October 2010. Web. 22 November 2011. Gaillard, P. “Personalized Customer Care: It’s More Important Than What You Think.” CRM Buyer. 06 March 2007. Web. 22 November 2011. Chen, L., et. al., “A Qualitative Study of Small Business Internet Commerce: Critical Success Factors and Changes.” Advanced Topics in Information Resources Management. vol. 3. Ed. Khosrow-Pour, M., 2004. Pennsylvania, USA: Idea Group Publishing. Read More