Customer Service of FedEx - Case Study Example

? Federal express Canada case analyses Executive summary The case study deals with FedEx and its service that it had showed towards Anita who has couriered two packets from Kitchener, Ontario to Simpsonville, South Carolina through FedEx and to her disbelief the company had misplaced one of the packets out of the two sent which was supposed to be portrayed in the tradeshow in Simpsonville. Therefore the report aims to study about FedEx and analyze the situation by performing the SWOT, environmental and marketing mix of the company. After analyzing a set of recommendation has been provided to FedEx to enhance its customer service so that in future customers like Anita do not have to suffer because of the damage made by the courier company. Contents Contents 3 Background 4 Statement of Problem(s) or Statement of Issue(s) 4 Situation Analysis 5 Marketing Mix 5 SWOT Analysis 6 Environmental Analysis 7 Analysis of alternatives 7 Recommendation(s) 7 Implementation or Action Plan 8 Reference 8 Background The case study revolves around FedEx’s customer service that it provides to its customer and need of assistance provided by the customers care. FedEx is one of the leaders in the air express cargo transportation and its business is based on the philosophy that “when people are placed first they will provide the highest possible services and the profits will follow”. FedEx is known to be a reliable shipper and is committed to get the package of its customers irrespective of the size to the required destination on time. The present case study analysis is based on the customer service of FedEx which they showed towards a small company by the name of Desktop Innovation. Anita Kilgour who was the office manager in Desktop Innovation had shipped two packets from Kitchener, Ontario to Simpsonville, South Carolina through FedEx. But only one of the two packets was received and there were no whereabouts about the second packets. Statement of Problem(s) or Statement of Issue(s) FedEx which was known for its services and has received many awards for its excellent services in the past but Anita was really disappointed with the way the company handled the situation. With respect to the case of Anita and her company Desktop Innovation, the main problem lied with FedEx was its customer service. Despite of Anita calling them several times to keep a track of the packets and to know about the whereabouts of the missing packets, the customer service department was least interests in informing her and the company about the missing packet and as promised they never called Anita back to provide the information. As stated by Anita that the customer service policies needs to be given an in dept analysis was however true for the situation where Anita and her company had to face issues because of FedEx. Situation Analysis Marketing Mix The marketing mix constitutes of four Ps but since Federal Express is a service industry, the marketing mix would include the remaining three Ps also that is all in 7 Ps. Thus the 7Ps are Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical Evidence. Product/ Services: FedEx is a courier service industry and delivers the couriers to the required destinations ion time and it has been known for its on time delivery system. Other services includes packaging and shipping of the products, hold at the location, local delivery, laptop docking stations, hotels and conventions and also provides services such as scanning, fax, passport and other office suppliers (FedEx, 2012). The products of FedEx includes posters, banners, displays and frames, cards and calendar, design services to name a few products (FedEx, 2012). Price: FedEx charges a premium price for its services from its customers. It also provides booking facility through the internet so that customer can book at an ease and at any point of time. Place: FedEx is geographically scattered all over the globe and provide services 24*7. FedEx is located in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, North America and Latin America. The company has managed to penetrate in almost all of the countries across the globe and has succeeded in become one of the most recognized and reliable service provider. Promotions: The Company use sports in order to promote its services such as through golf, tennis, and motorsports. FedEx promoted its brand through an Oscar nominated movie Cast Away” (Finnigan, 2000). People: The employers of FedEx provide both pre and post service and hires employee who have an experience in transportation and SCM. Process: FedEx receives the products from its clients or the customers than conducts order management functions; delivers the products and the services to the customers and finally for complexities EFT, EDI and DSS are used for planning and execution. Physical Evidence: Along with the staff, the vehicles and aircrafts also plays an important role in providing services. In order to directly interact with its customers FedEx has recruited front desk executives and also provides coded information for the respective packets. SWOT Analysis Strength: FedEx strength lies on the service that the company provides. FedEx is known for its innovation and reliability for its services. It has won many awards for its excellent services and bears with itself the reputation of delivering “on time, every time”. Weakness: FedEx suffers from low customer service which can cause the company a lot. Service industry is known for its service and customer satisfaction and thus FedEx should comply with the rules of service industry. Opportunity: FedEx has a huge opportunity to provide quality service to its customers. It has the opportunity in the world of internet and portrays itself to be one of the most reliable services and focus on the reputation of its company. Threat: A major threat lies from its competitors who provide the same services. Due to increase in competition, company needs to upgrade its services as well as enhance the customer service. Thus FedEx lacks an appropriate customer services which can cause the company a major threat as its loyal customers might shift on to different courier services. Environmental Analysis Concentrating on the case study which deals with FedEx situated in Ontario to be delivered to South Carolina. FedEx faces a tough competition from other courier service and it becomes necessary for the company to overcome the competitors by way of its services. But through the case study it can be said that FedEx has disappointed the company through its services and has provided an advantage to its competitors. The internal functions of FedEx, the customer’s service was not at its best in helping Anita with its lost packets and also did not bother to inform about the status of the packet for which the company had lost quite a sum of money. Analysis of alternatives Therefore alternatives that is available for FedEx is to compensate the company and Anita for losing the packet and delivering it not on time. FedEx should return back its charges as stated in its service guide. And most importantly bring changes to its customer service. Recommendation(s) Based on the alternatives, it can be recommended to FedEx to enhance its customer service so that customers do not have to face such a situation when they are in need. It is the duty of the service company to provide all the necessary information regarding the customer’s products and services. The front desk executives should be well trained and should have all the information’s so that they are able to answer to all the queries. In this case it is recommended that in spite of sending chocolates and other goodies it would have been better if Chris would have called in personal to Anita and apologies for the loss that Anita and her company had suffered and should in a way at least try to compensate the loss. Another set of recommendation is that as promised to Anita the staffs should make it a habit to cal the customers back and answer the queries about the products and services. Implementation or Action Plan In order to implement the recommended steps the company FedEx should give highly importance to its customer service so that in future no such event takes place which can affect the reputation of the company. For this the staffs should be provided with proper training programs as to how to deal with customers. In case of Anita, the senior officials along with Chris should call Anita and apologies for such a loss and behavior by its staff’s members. Along with an apology card which should have produced a positive impact on Anita. And also compensate for the loss that Innovation Desktop has suffered due to mishandling of the product by FedEx. Reference FedEx. (2012). Marketing Products. Retrieved from http://www.fedex.com/us/office/marketing/index.html FedEx. (2012). Office Services. Retrieved from http://www.fedex.com/us/office/services/index.html Finnigan, D. (2000). FedEx Won't Go Postal on Cast Away; Pepsi Returns for Oscars, Sans Refill. 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