Apple Inc - Customer Insight for Competitive Advantage - Case Study Example

Customer insight for competitive advantage Introduction The role of customer service excellence for competitive advantage that is sustainable is important to any business that wants to remain ahead despite the changing trends in the market. Understanding and anticipating the needs of the customer provides a breakthrough towards offering excellent customer service to the customers. In order for a company to have a competitive advantage it has to establish a customer base and strive at expanding its influence beyond the normal boundaries. Excellence in service provision is important towards getting loyal customers in the company (Matlay, 2009). In the technology industry customer service and performance of the product are very important aspect. Customers want quality for their money and they need to be treated well so that they come back for more products. The importance of excellence customer service was fully exploited by Apple Inc as it rose to become one of the leading companies in the technology industry (Millard, 2006). To be a market leader in the technology industry is not an easy challenge and everything possible has to be done to ensure that you remain at the top. A lot of efforts have been put in place to ensure that Apple achieve excellent customer service. Service excellence allows a company to stand out from the rest and is a source increased profits. Apple Inc has borrowed a lot from the hospitality industry in order to ensure that excellence customer service and induce repeat purchases is attained. Main findings Product features are easily copied by competitors from anywhere in the world. Price advantages can be eroded owing to the ubiquitous shopping over the internet. Excellent service can be the only differentiating factor that is able to change the competition market. A company can maintain a competitive age by maintaining high quality service to customers. The perception of high quality service varies from one industry to another. A large percentage of the profitability of the company is derived from high quality service. Repeat purchases will be instigated only if the company offers high quality to its customers. Poor service has the potential of driving away the customer despite the quality of the product. Expectations about excellent customer service are rising around the world (Chris & Hsieh, 2006). Businesses and customers have increased access to information. Customers who are informed know about other suppliers of the same good or service that is being supplied. In spite of this awareness, the company has to work hard to excellent customer service to retain its customer base. Loyalty and goodwill from the customers is not easy to come by and a company has to work hard to earn it. Excellence in customer service is a crucial ingredient to success. The attention of the customer can be won through provision of excellent customer service. The company has to analyze every feedback to make sure that the needs of the customers are being met. Companies have to be creative in the provision of excellent service. A company cannot achieve success only through research and development without improving its service quality to the customer. The customer has to be hooked to the products of the company (Dany, Guedri & Hatt, 2008). The company has to find a way of measuring customer satisfaction in order to improve its provision of services to its customers. Engaging the customer in the process service provision is important in striking rapport with and establishing lasting relationships. Imitations can be extended to products and pricing strategies but is difficult to company customer experience through excellent customer service. Apple has been able to remain a leader in the technology industry owing to the superior shopping experience offered to customer through excellent service. Referrals to use the products of the company are many as customers refer their kin and friends to Apple Stores. Impeccable service and committed employees make sure that the expectations of the customer are met. Maintaining a competitive advantage that is not sustainable is becoming very challenging. It is not enough just to produce a service or a product and sell it to the customers; forging relationships that are everlasting is the major differentiator. A firm has to be a market leader in the area of customer to gain competitive advantage in the modern market. A firm has to collect enough information from the customers in order to know what they need and also to anticipate the unexpressed needs. When the customer feels that his needs have been fulfilled he will come for more services of products. Perfection of the service provided to ensure customer satisfaction is one way of providing memorable shopping experience to the customer (Heracleous & Wirtz, 2006). Personal service that is customized make the customers feel special and come back for more services or products. The secret is to pace with the changing needs of the customers. Customers have certain expectations but a company’s products that have to be fulfilled. When the expectations of the customers are not fulfilled they become dissatisfied and they may end up switching brands. Appreciating the cultural dimension and setting of customers make it easy to know what they want and anticipate the next level of their needs. Customer satisfaction is the best way to communicate to the customer on the commitment to excellence and meeting customer’s needs. The role of customer service in the organization can be overlooked. Competitive advantage cannot be achieved if there is no effective customer service that is excellent (Light, 2006). At Apple invention, perfection, and idealism is encouraged. Customers are offered with impeccable products that give them lifetime experiences. Perfection and excellence as far as customer service is concerned has been the emphasized values at Apple. Every customer is treated and as important and given the attention he deserves. Apple has set the standards for excellent customer service and remarkable products. Ideas which were adopted from outside the computer industry are said to be significant to Apple’s success. For instance, Cuisinart was the inspiration behind the first Mac’s footprint. Apple significantly took cues from the hospitality industry (Wheeler, 2006). The retail wizard Ron Johnson and the late CEO Steve Jobs sought ways of providing the best experience to customers. The company employed managers who had gone through training in the hospitality and leadership program of the Ritz-Carlton. This after the management found out that the company was among the best in offering remarkable customer experience. Apple imitated the most important aspects of a five-star customer service hospitality experience. This is characterized by anticipation of needs. The founder of Ritz-Carlton has had shown his desire of fulfilling even the unexpressed needs and wishes of the guests. Employees at Apple unrelentingly focus on the fulfillment of unexpressed wishes of the customers. They understand that anticipating what is wanted by the customers is the most direct way engaging potential loyal customers. The role of service excellence at Apple cannot be overlooked (Light, 2006). At Apple it was imperative to stay one step ahead of what the customers anticipate. Anticipatory service commence even before the arrival of the customer. If a customer by any chance uses the Apple Store application, a tool that allows customers to schedule reservation and get employees to attend to them personally, Apple is then able to expect the arrival of the customer at the Apple Store. This is important to both the company and the customer. The customer is able do away with wait times and receives attention that is undivided which hard to come by in other retail stores. The company is able to sufficient information concerning the level of demand and hence be able to deploy staff efficiently. For customers who do not use the application to get an appointment, customer service commences immediately on arrival. A customer is greeted heartily and promptly by an Apple representative who has been hired because he has the passion for both customer service excellence and computing. Employees at the Apple Store make sure that name of the customer are used without making the customer to reintroduce himself after scheduling for the appointment (Millard, 2006). At Apple customer are made to feel at home. Using the adoption of concepts of the hospitality industry, Apple used technology creatively to make its customers to have a feeling of being dotted on by a parent who loves. The assistance provided by Apple employees to its customers is just electrifying. The customer service is impeccable and unrivalled in the technology industry. Recommendation Apple Inc has to invest more in research about the changing needs of customers and also continue with anticipating the unexpressed needs of the customer. The company cannot afford to give up on its efforts in providing high quality service. Feedback systems have to register the experience of the customer in Apple Store and know what should be done to improve service delivery. The needs of the customers are ever changing and new trend keep emerging in the market; Apple has to establish an intelligence center with the responsibility of gathering information of new trends and news in the market as well as forecasting what could happen next. Creativity and innovation has to be maintained in the provision of excellent customer service. Predictability breeds boredom and customers have to be surprised with new experienced after sometime (Meyer & Schwager, 2007). The company has to seek new ways of carrying out its operations without relenting on the set standards. Service quality has to be made better every time. The company has to take advantage of its high quality product in luring the customers and topping it up with excellent customer service. Market testing in order to discover new ways of satisfying customers has to be an ongoing process. An excellent product with poor service can result into the company losing customers. Customers are kings and have to be treated with the uttermost dignity, respect, and importance that they deserve. Studies have to be carried out from time to time in order to establish what the customers want to be done in order to improve the shopping experience through excellent customer service. A good rapport has to be established with customers so that they feel they are part of the organization and hence take part in fulfillment of organization objectives and goals. Conclusion Customer service is very important in the competitive technology industry. Competition drives companies seek ways of retaining their customers and ensuring growth. The only way a company can stand out from the crowd is providing excellent customer service. Excellent customer service wins loyalty of customers and contributes substantially to profits made by the company. Leading technological companies like Apple understand the important of excellence customer service and strive to ensure that the customer has a memorable shopping experience that will make him or her come back. Apple has applied concepts drawn from the hospitality industry to come up with a strategy of providing excellent service to the customers. Excellent customer service is one of the key foundations towards attaining competitive advantage. The company has to concentrate of the needs of the customers and seek even to fulfill even the unexpressed needs. References Dany, F., Guedri, Z., & Hatt, F 2008, New insights into the link between HRM integration and organizational performance, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19 (11): 2095-112. Light, A. 2006, Adding Method to meaning: A technique for exploring people’s experience with technology, Behavior & Information Technology, 25 (2). Matlay, H 2009, Entrepreneurship education in the UK: a critical analysis of stakeholder involvement and expectations, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 16 (2): 355-68. Meyer, C., & Schwager, A. 2007, Understanding the customer experience, Harvard Business Review, 85 (2): 116 – 126. Millard, N 2006, Learning from the wow factor – how to engage customers through the design of effective affective customer experiences, BT Technology Journal, 24 (1). Wheeler, A 2006, Retaining employees for service competency: the role of corporate brand identity, Journal of Brand Management, 14 (1/2): 96-133. Heracleous, L. & Wirtz, J 2006, Service innovators Biometrics: the next frontier in service excellence, productivity and security in service sector, Managing Service Quality, 16 (1): 12-22. Chris Lin JS. & Hsieh P 2006, The role of technology readiness in customers’ perception and adoption of self-service technologies, International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17 (5): 497-517. Read More