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Understanding Customer Requirements:

Understanding Customer Requirements Listening to Customers through Research Building Customer Relationship Service Recovery

Listening to Customers through Research :

Listening to Customers through Research Types of Services Research Studies Complaint Solicitation – Firms that use complaints as research collect and document them and then use the information to identify dissatisfied customers, correct individual problems where possible, and identify common service failures. (information comes from dissatisfied customers only) 2. Critical Incidents Studies – Critical incident technique is a qualitative interview procedure in which customers are asked to provide verbatim stories about satisfying and dissatisfying service encounters they have experienced. The benefits of this technique is 1) respondents perspective is taken and are vivid as they are expressed in their own words 2) provides concrete information about the way the company and its employees behave and react 3) useful when the service is new and very little information exists 4) well suited for assessing perceptions from different cultures because perceptions are shared rather than answering researcher defined questions.

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Requirement Research involves identifying the benefits and attributes that customers expect in a service. This type of research is very basic and essential because it determines the type of questions that will be asked in surveys and ultimately the improvements that will be attempted by the firm. Qualitative technique are appropriate however quantitative techniques can follow. An example of requirement research is Structural Brainstorming. It is a technique where a sample of customers and potential customers are assembled A facilitator leads the group through a series of exercises on creativity and then has the customers describe the ideal provider of service. Relationship Surveys. Relationship surveys pose questions about all elements in the customer’s relationship with the company (including service, product, and price). This comprehensive approach can help a company diagnose its relationship strengths and weaknesses. These surveys monitor and track service performance annually with an initial survey providing the baseline. Relationship surveys are also effective in comparing company performance with that of competitors often focusing upon the best competitors performance as a bench mark.

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SERVQUAL Survey can be used to measure service quality. It involves a survey of the 5 dimensions of service quality (Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, Tangibles) . The survey asks the respondents to provide two different ratings on each attribute – one for the level of service expected from excellent companies and the other for the perception of service delivered by the specific company . The difference between the expectation and perception ratings constitute a quantified measure of service quality. Trailer Calls or Transaction Surveys capture information about one or all of the key service encounters with the customers. The customers are asked short questions immediately after a particular transaction (hence the name trailer calls) about their satisfaction with the transaction and contact personnel with whom they interacted. Service Expectations Meetings and Reviews are used in business to business situations when large accounts are involved. Expectations of customers are taken at a specified time of the year and then followed up after a year to determine whether expectations are fulfilled . Carried out by senior members of the provider firm.

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Process Checkpoint Evaluations: - Wherever services are provided over a long period , and there are not obvious ways or times to collect customer information, waiting until the entire project is complete is undesirable because myriad unresolvable problems could have occurred by then. The smart service provider defines a process for delivering the services and then structures the feedback around the process, checking in at frequent points to ensure that the client’s expectations are being met. 9. Market –Oriented Ethnography: - These r esearch study methods are culture based. It depends on norms of participation, or what people are willing to say in front of others and to researchers. To fully understand how customers of other cultures assess and use services, This research approach allows researchers to observe consumption behavior in natural settings. Observation involves entering the experience as a participant observer and watching what occurs rather than asking questions about it.

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Mystery Shopping: - Companies hire outside research organizations to send people into service establishments and experience the service as if they were customers. These mystery shoppers are trained in the criteria important to customers of the establishment. Customer Panels are ongoing groups of customers assembled to provide attitudes and perceptions about a service over time. They offer company regular and timely customer information. Firms can use customer panels to represent large segment of end customers. Lost Customer Research involves deliberately seeking customers who have dropped the company’s service to inquire about their reasons for leaving. Customers are asked open-ended, in-depth questions to exposé the reasons for defection and the particular events that led to their dissatisfaction.

Building Customer Relationship:

Building Customer Relationship Customers are today business partners and firms must make long term commitments to maintain relationships with quality, service, and innovation. The goal of relationship marketing is to build and maintain a base of committed customers who are profitable for the organizations. The steps to building relationships are Acquiring, Retaining, Satisfying, and Acquiring Benefits for Customers 1) Confidence Benefits, 2) Social Benefits, 3) Special Treatment Benefits Benefits for Firms 1) Economic Benefits, 2) Customer Behavior Benefits 3) Human Resource Management Benefits

Relationship Development Strategies:

Relationship Development Strategies Relationship development strategies for developing strong customer relationship includes the customer’s overall evaluation of a firm’s offering, bonds created with customers by the firm, and barriers that the customer faces in leaving a relationship. Build strategies after providing good core service delivery. Outcomes Relationship Drivers Relationship Bonds Financial Bonds Social Bonds Structural Bonds Customer Benefits Confidence benefits Social benefits Special treatment benefits Strong Customer Relationship (Loyalty) Core Service Provision Satisfaction Perceived Service Quality Perceived Value Switching Barriers Customer Inertia Switching Costs Firm Benefits Economic Benefits Customer behavior benefits HRM benefits

Service Recovery:

Service Recovery Service recovery refers to the actions taken by an organization in response to a service failure. Service may be unavailable when promised. It may be late or too slow. The outcome maybe incorrect or poorly executed The employees may be rude or uncaring These failures bring about a negative feeling and responses from customers.

Service Recovery Strategies:

Service Recovery Strategies Make the service ‘Fail-Safe’ – Do it right the first time Encourage and Track Complaints Act Quickly Take Care of Problems on the Front Line Empower Employees Allow Customers to Solve their Own Problems Provide Adequate Explanations Treat Customers Fairly Cultivate Relationships with Customers Learn from Recovery Experiences Learn from Lost Customers