UC 12:- MANAGEING CUSTOMERS QUALITY SERVICES

Manage Quality Customer Service will provide you with the skills to monitor, adjust and
optimize your customer service processes and identify possible points of weakness with the
objective to analyses the potential for improvements.

Every project has an internal or external customer who relies on the fulfillment of project
objectives. Most external customers will have a financial stake in the project effort.
Internal customers often seek more operational effectiveness and efficiency as a result of the
product or service delivered by the project effort. Along with these considerations of revenue and
efficiency, the third common element of the project– business equation is customer satisfaction.
These three elements need to be managed from both business and project management
perspectives.
Most customers will have some level of participation in the project and in project management
activities. At a minimum, they will normally initiate a request for the project effort and execute
the associated project contract or agreement. Some customers will be more involved than others
in project performance and project management oversight. Any level of customer involvement in
the project effort warrants
managing those customer relationships. There are three practices associated with Project
Customer Relationship Management:
- Customer information Management
- Customer Participation Management
- Customer Satisfaction Management
The project manager has inherent responsibility for managing the customer relationship for the
duration of the project. Managing the customer relationship relative to project effort presents a
range of interactions that can be adequately conducted only by those directly involved in the
project management effort. As well, the customer’s project and business experience can be
enhanced when the customer has ongoing access to qualified professionals in project
management who can both answer technical questions and resolve business issues solely from
within the venue of the project management environment. The business units of the organization
that have customer relationship responsibilities will normally find an increase in efficiency and
sometimes a reduction in workload when project managers have assigned customer relationship
management capability. This includes such departments as business development, finance and
accounting, legal/contracts management, etc. Professionals in these business areas can focus on
more prominent duties or possibly problem areas associated with customer projects when project
managers are able to contribute to developing and managing effective customer relationships as
a natural part of the project management effort. The project management methodology is ideally
suited for incorporating business practices for critical customer relationship management beyond
the scope of this practice area. This includes such matters as initial customer requirements
examination, technical solution and proposal development, contract and agreement management,
project deliverable acceptance and associated invoice management, and customer satisfaction
1
evaluations at interim project points and at project closeout. See the relevant practice areas for
more information about these practices. This practice area supports customer-relevant activities
and interactions, particularly customer information collection, throughout the project
management life cycle. Performance of this customer relationship activity warrants a special side
note.

Customer Information Management:- provides facts about and insight into the customer
relationship. Sufficient information should be collected, compiled, and managed to enable
desired levels of customer participation and to achieve customer satisfaction with project results.
Customer Participation Management:-helps to guide the extent and frequency of customer
involvement in the project and in project management. This can be as simple as brief
introductions and limited coordination between the customer and the performing organization, or
as elaborate as collaborative work efforts that include an integrated project team with customer
participants.

Customer Satisfaction Management

The achievement of customer satisfaction is a genuine contribution to ongoing opportunities
associated with the customer business relationship. However, customer satisfaction issues and
information also tend to surface in the marketplace to reflect on and communicate the project
management capability of the performing organization. Therefore, the organization has to ensure
that the customer’s experience with project performance is one that meets the customer’s
business needs and expectations. The performing organization can do this by monitoring and
responding to customer satisfaction issues on a near-continuous basis.

Customer Information Management begins in the Profile Phase, and continues throughout the
project, up to and including the information collected for customer evaluations, satisfaction
surveys, and other customer closeout activities conducted in the Post Phase. This practice deals
with managing customer project information and customer business information, as prescribed in
the following subsections.
Manage Customer Project Information
Information needed to initiate and conduct projects and project management activities should be
examined and compiled for each customer. These project information elements are primarily
associated with technical needs and are addressed in other practice areas, but they may include
other types of information as well. The following are a few primary areas of customer project
information that will assist not only in project delivery but also in customer relationship
management:
Project Requirements and Specifications—this comprises a set of information representing the
customer’s perspective of what needs to be achieved by the project. Presumably, associated
information items are prepared and presented by the customer as a part of the request for project
assistance. A few sample information elements include
− Request for Proposal (RFP)
- Statement of Work (SOW)

2
 − Business/Technical Needs Analysis
− Technical Specifications Document
- Technical Survey Document
− Technical Design Document
Project requirements and specifications information elements are described in further detail in
separate practice areas of this guide.

1. Plan to meet internal and external customer requirements

1.1. Identification

An external customer is someone who uses your company's products or services but is not part of
your organization. If you own a retail store, for example, an external customer is an individual
who enters your store who relies on assistance from another to fulfill her job duties. An internal
customer is any member of your organization a customer service representative to place an order
or Internal customers can are any persons who either works for an organization& serve people
that are not employed by that organization.

External customers are those whom do not work for the organization, which are buying a
product/service to fulfill a need.

External Customer Significance

External customers are essential to the success of any job, as they provide the revenue stream
through their purchases that the enterprise needs to survive. Satisfied external customers often
make repeat work as well as refer your job to other people they know. A customer who suffers
through a negative experience with a job, such as being treated rudely by an employee, can also
hinder a work by dissuading others from patronizing it.

Internal Customer Significance

While internal customers may not necessarily purchase the products or services offered by their
employer, the internal customer relationship also plays a key role in the work success. In the
sales example, the salesperson who does not work well with customer service may have greater
difficulty placing orders or obtaining answers to his external clients' questions, resulting in a
poor level of service. Strained internal relationships can also adversely affect company morale.

Considerations

As a business owner, you may have a natural tendency to focus on the relationship with external
customers, as they are the ones who purchase your products and services. Still, seeking ways to

3
improve internal customer relations can lead to a healthier work environment. You can take steps
to improve internal relations by training employees to think of co-workers in the same manner as
external customers and provide the same high level of service. Set an example by showing
appreciation for your employees' efforts and encouraging their feedback.

1.2. Means of identifying potential customers

Thirteen Ways to Find Customers

1. Develop a plan:- Consider who would make the ideal customer. If you sell to businesses,
consider what individual (what level of responsibility) would be the one to determine the specific
purchase requirements. (Make some calls if you don't know!) Then consider how that individual
would normally find products or services like yours. Find a way to put your information, or
yourself, in their path.

2. Realize there is no one path to success:- Sales often happen because prospective customers
hear about your products and services in several different ways and from several different
sources. The more often they hear about you, the more likely they are to consider what you have
to offer when they are ready to buy.

3. Work your local newspapers:- Daily and weekly newspapers are an incredible source of
contact information and leads to potential customers. Watch for names of people who have been
promoted, who have won awards, who have opened new businesses, or who in any way may be
potential customers.

4. Sponsor Events:- Watch for events that may bring your potential market together. Contact the
organizers of the event and offer to give away your product or service as a prize during the event
in exchange for having the group promote you in their promotions.

5. Attend meetings and seminars that your prospects might attend:- If you've been doing
that and haven't made contacts that could lead to sales, try new networking groups. Look in the
newspapers to see what other organizations hold events that might attract your target market and
attend some of those meetings.

6. Follow up after meetings:- Contact the people you've met to see if they may be prospects. If
they say they don't need your services now, ask when a good time to call them back would be, or
if they have business associates who could use what you sell now.

7. Give a little to get a lot:- Give away free samples of your product and ask the recipients to
tell their friends if they are pleased. Or, if you are a consultant, give away some free advice. This
could be in the form of a newsletter with that contains news or tips and hints, or it could be a free

4
consultation during which you provide just enough information to help the client scope out their
project and know that you have the ability to handle it.

8. Work your personal network:- Ask your friends if they know of people who can use your
services, or people who may know others who could use your services. If your pricing structure
will allow it, offer friends and business associates a finders' fee for referrals that turn into jobs.

9. Study your successful competitors:- Where do they advertise? Where do they network?
What tactics do they use? What works for them may work just as well for you.

10.Use multiple small ads instead of one big one:- If most people in your type of business
advertise in print to bring in customers, you should do the same. But don't plan on making a big
splash with one large ad. Plan smaller ads to run over a long time in the same publications that
your competitors advertise in.

11.Test pay-per-click (PPC) and other online advertising:- To keep costs down, set your ads
to show up only in the geographic areas you serve. Set daily budgets and monthly budgets, and
check your account frequently the first few days you set it up.

12. Claim your "place" in Google Places: - While you're at it, be sure to list yourself (and
make sure your website address is correct) in any directories you qualify for.

13. Ask for feedback when prospects don't buy: - Did they find a product that better served
their needs? Did they decide they don't need the product at all? Did they just postpone their
buying decision? Did they find it difficult to place an order on your web site? Use what you learn
to make needed changes and watch your sales start to grow.

1.3. Customer Satisfaction, Requirements and Quality

Customer satisfaction:- is dependent upon many factors that are associated with the business
need, the development project and resultant system product quality. Ultimately the customer is
looking for added value to benefit the business operations within a defined timeframe but at an
affordable price; hence the customer priority is for an overall successful business. The system
supplier perspective is to deliver a system within the agreed cost plans to satisfy the customer
requirements, thus contributing to the supplier's profit and reputation; hence the supplier priority
is for a successful project. These different perspectives are typically controlled through inflexible
and formal contract management arrangements in the pursuit of a successful project for both
customer and supplier. The cornerstone to such 'success' involves an appropriately rigorous and
long-term approach to 'quality' by customers and suppliers.

This 'success' discussion implies that customer satisfaction is analogous to overall project
success. However, project success depends on other concepts such as usability and adaptability.
5
  Usability concerns the wider process use considerations beyond system delivery and
acceptance embracing operational experience; this involves different perspectives when
applying the new system for individual task support and business organization
performance enhancement.
 Adaptability has a cycle (of planning, doing, filtering and learning) to adjust development
progress and direction based on business and development interaction. Both success
notions of usability and adaptability are vital to achieve longer-term customer
satisfaction.

'Quality' may be loosely inferred to mean 'satisfying requirements' embracing the provision of
added capability (i.e. improved business function and performance) and any associated
trustworthiness or integrity (i.e. continuously performs as intended without harmful 'side-effects'
on business services). One key aspect of the quality perspective concerns the customer and
supplier agreeing upon a required level of quality to be achieved within defined and understood
cost and time constraints. In addition, the quality level must be defined and be subject to some
agreed measurement to monitor attainment.

The remaining development project consideration is the level of risk and uncertainty associated
with the attainment of the required and agreed quality level; the risk perspective depends upon
the available knowledge about the project constraints and their implications. Hence both
customer and supplier need to understand the level of risk each is taking within their quality level
agreement. In practice, the notion of risk sharing between customers and suppliers is a difficult
area that influences the nature of any supporting legally binding contractual arrangements. In
summary, both customers and suppliers need to plan and implement compatible quality and risk
strategies for the development project. These strategies will need to be reflected in any
contractual agreements.

Returning to quality within the customer satisfaction arena, customers need to be assured that
defined and measurable final product quality attributes demonstrate that their defined needs and
associated requirements are satisfied. Achieving defined product quality depends upon 'getting
the system requirements right' and then 'building the product right' to meet these requirements.
This is not easy to achieve especially within traditional contracting processes that tend to
encourage the communication of requirements through formal documents and review activities.
This inflexible and formal approach to agreement and communication is often the main reason
why customer and supplier teams fail to be effective in achieving continuous levels of
understanding, which is sometimes colored by a culture of disrespect and mistrust.

1.4. Customer Satisfaction Criteria

The necessary criteria for customer satisfaction are provided below to further demonstrate the
relationship with requirements understanding. Such criteria provide the basis for defining

6
 measurement schemes from which to systematically argue and justify whether customer needs
and requirements have been adequately satisfied.

Area Criteria
Need and  The business need for supporting necessary or desirable (process and
requirements information) change must be clearly defined.
definition and  The system requirements must be clear (and error-free) and related to the
change business need.
management  There must be an ability to change the product development as the requirements
are better understood and refined (or even changed due to business reasons).

Process  The supplier's development process (for all management, engineering and
definition and quality activities) must be consistent with best practice.
execution  The supplier processes must closely interface with the customer's processes in
executing the acquisition and system creation activities.
 The competence and performance of the supplier teams must be of a high
standard.
 There must be high visibility of the executing development processes and of the
product evolution.

Product quality  The final system product must be compliant with the agreed and understood
requirements.
 The final system product must meet defined business needs and added value to
the customer's business operations.
 The final system product must have high levels of usability and be easily
integrated into customer processes.

Product  There must be sufficient demonstration regarding the satisfaction of business

management needs, system requirements and product quality (i.e. overall fitness for
purpose).
 The agreed project schedule must be met ensuring that the final system delivery
and in-service dates are achieved.
 The project costs must not be changed without full agreement and justification
in customer terms

2. Manage delivery of quality products/services

End users require timely provision and utility of products or services, as well as to be
understood, made welcome, and feel comfortable when doing business with an organization.

7
An important question, therefore, is whether the organization is capable of satisfying these
criteria. Delivering consistent quality, competitive prices and an ability to adapt to the needs and
requirements of the client builds a positive, enduring customer relationship.
Managing the consistent delivery of this objective requires intimate knowledge of customer
needs, an ability to manage the service team’s performance, and the ability to assist when
difficult situations occur.

2.1. Delivering products/services to customer specifications

According to reports from primary industry groups, quality is still the main driver for purchase
decisions in the business to business (B2B) sector. Consumers or end users are driven more
readily by perceived value. The notable difference between these two is price.
The specifications demanded by your organization’s target market should, therefore, be your
driver. Your organization’s business plan should clearly highlight the buying preferences of your
target market, or at least recommend further research to develop market intelligence. This is the
goal of market-orientated organizations.

Focus of the organization

Each plan should specify the characteristics of the particular target market/s for the specific
division, section or team. The market research should focus on the needs within that market and
report back to that divisional management team. Customer service is orientated towards the
results of the individual division’s market analysis.
Business planners are therefore able to narrow down the market and collect specific market data
to enable quality customer service planning.
Market determinants
The market determinants area is as broad as the individual needs of the millions of consumers
within the thousands of markets. As discussed previously, the commonalities of price, quality
and time are useful to customer service planners and managers.

Price
Price elasticity of demand is a concept that measures the responsiveness of the market to changes
in price.
Inelastic demand refers to goods that will be purchased regardless of large variations in price.
Elastic demand refers to those products that are very sensitive to price movements where
alternatives may exist. There are limits to the price that end users will pay for your goods. An
intelligent organization uses this information to set its pricing policy.

Understanding customer inquiries

Before a situation can be resolved, the query needs to be clarified so all parties understand what
is being asked for. This may involve paraphrasing the query, asking further questions then

8
rephrasing for confirmation. In many cases, the cheapest option may not be what the customer
wants; asking a few questions will soon clarify this.
To match a product/service with a customer, the salesperson needs to find out what is driving the
customer towards a decision; for example, it may be cost, aesthetics, safety, performance, social
acceptance or after-sales service.
To train new staff, provide a range of situations to role-play, or ask them to shadow you or
another experienced person to observe techniques to identify what the customer wants.
In complex contractual situations there are often specific terms and conditions written into the
commercial relationship. You can ensure your staff and colleagues are aware of each specific
situation via:
 Regular or irregular meetings
 Information circulars such as emails, newsletters or blogs
 Collaboration during contractual negotiations.
Aligning needs with products and services
Once client expectations are clarified, staffs members need to use their knowledge of the
products/services to determine what will meet the client’s needs. This is a crucial aspect of
customer service, because a customer may never return if they perceive that the product was
suggested to them because the organization wanted to clear the products quickly or because the
salesperson wanted a quick sale. This is where training in questioning, interpreting and
paraphrasing is essential. In addition, make sure your staff has access to brochures, price list and
catalogues.
3. Monitor, adjust and review customer service
3.1. Obtaining customer feedback to improve the provision of products/services
Customer Feedback Techniques
1. Ask them: - The simplest way to find out what people want from your service or product is to
ask them. The trouble is, most service-providers assume they know what people want. Always
ask and act on the answers.
2. Be Your Own Customer: - One of the most obvious but underused ways to find out what
your customers experience when they use your service is to be a customer yourself. You can do
this by walking the customer journey one step at a time and seeing things through your
customer's eyes. You can even act as one of a special group of customers - such as a person in a
wheelchair, or someone whose first language is not English - and see how you're treated.

3. Focus Groups: - Focus groups are representatives of customers whose job is to provide you
with information on their needs and preferences. used a focus group to review their customer
needs,

9
4. Questionnaires and Surveys:- Getting customers to put their thoughts in writing on a
questionnaire or survey is one of the most well-established feedback techniques. That's because,
when well-conducted, it works.

5. Usage Statistics:- The most important current information on whether your customers are
satisfied with your service or not is whether they continue to buy from you or use you. However,
while information on sales may be an accurate indicator of how well you are doing at present, it
is no guarantee that you are delivering the product or service that the customer really wants. It
may be that you are at present the only supplier in the market, or that you are the cheapest or the
most convenient.

6. Your Front-Line Staff:- Your front-line staffs are the most resourceful and reliable, as well
as the least costly, of your customer feedback sources. Front-line staff should be encouraged to
build strong relationships with customers so that they feel free to share how they feel about the
service. It is then for front-line staff to feed back important information for improving customer
care and for managers to make use of what they tell them.

Why Is Quality in Customer Service So Important?

The perception of having received quality in customer service is important in the decision-
making process. Consumers want to have a memorable shopping experience and the most
important aspect of a consumer's shopping experience is her perception of service. The single
most important aspect of a consumer's decision on where to shop is going to be her perception
concerning the quality of customer service she receives is congruent with the level of respect and
courtesy required to earn and retain her loyalty as a contentious consumer. If an organization
fails to provide quality customer service, the likelihood of that customer's continuing as a patron
of the organization is highly doubtful.

3.2. Customer Service Consistency

Quality customer service is a vital aspect of a shopper's experience and if this is overlooked at
any time by an organization, the company's ability to consistently provide continued value to the
consumer will be seriously compromised. The effects of customer service,good or bad, is an
important aspect of any business's ability to remain a market force in an increasingly competitive
and diverse marketplace. Good customer service, above all else, is the primary factor in an
organization's ability to sustain growth and increase profitability over the long-term. Consistently
addressing the needs of the consumer through attention to detail, prompt and courteous
assistance, and the providing of knowledgeable employees is the first objective in providing a
memorable shopping experience. Effective customer service policies focus on providing the
customer with customer service that is always consistent and focuses on the customer. When an

10
organization creates a customer-centric and high-quality customer service policy, the
organization will continue to create lasting value for the consumer.
Lasting Value
The key to providing good quality customer service and retaining a customer for the long term is
providing the customer with lasting value during his or her shopping experience. A company
should promote lasting value in the products it provides and in the quality of service provided to
the customer by the organization's employees. Companies that continually focus on the best ways
to provide the customer with lasting value and quality customer service compared to the services
that the customer could expect to receive from a competitor are assured of the potential to create
loyal repeat customers out of each customer that the organization assists. Providing good
customer service is crucial to retaining customers against a competitor who sells the same or
similar products. In providing the best service available, an organization creates lasting value for
the customer and any organization that focuses on providing lasting value and unsurpassed
customer service will continually ensure that the customers the organization assists become
customers for life. Adopting policies that focus on creating lasting value for the customer and
provides him with unsurpassed customer service inherently gains long-term loyalty from that
consumer.

Customer Service as a Revenue Generator

When an organization implements value and loyalty practices through its customer service
policies, it gains a degree of loyalty from the consumer that drives an increasing ability to
maximize revenues. A consumer that has become dedicated to an organization because of the
high degree of customer service he receives becomes a vital marketing tool for the merchant. In
providing consumers with an unparalleled customer service experience, the organization realizes
that "good customer service is critical to every business relationship" and that providing the
consumer with the customer service that they deserve and expect is the best way to ensure the
ability to retain the customer over the long-term. Maintaining consumers over the long-term
creates a continually accessible source of revenue and any organization hoping to expand and
increase profitability will realize the potential gains to the organization from providing lasting
value and creating customer loyalty depends on the ability of the organization to provide quality
customer service that surpasses the services customers could expect to receive from other
competitors in the industry. Creating lasting value and customer loyalty through quality customer
service ensures that "customer service is more a revenue generator rather than a cost generator".

3.3. Using resources effectively to provide quality products/services

Everyone in the business world is aware that the most valuable assets that a company has are its
customers. Without customers, for-profit and not-for-profit companies alike could not exist at all,
for there would be no one to take advantage of the goods and services companies have to offer.

11
Attracting and retaining customers is key to success in any industry, and quality-run companies
are continually looking for ways to improve their customer relationships.

Whether a company is large or small, putting customer service first is key to its long-term
success. This online customer service resource guide is designed to help any company equip
itself to offer excellent customer service, learn from customer service professionals, and thereby
improve its standing in the marketplace.

3.4. Making decisions to overcome problems and adapt products/services

Creating and building a relationship with the customer is the first step in growing a business and
providing good customer service. Starting this relationship is not always an easy task, especially
in a well-established industry that has several leaders. Such relationship building is not possible,
however, as long as companies follow some important guiding principles and strategies.
Understanding the foundation of good customer relations is key to the success of any business.

3.5. Managing records, reports and recommendations

Practice task
1. For each of the following listed customer service difficulties, describe (in brief dot points)
how you would help staff overcome each one.
 Poor handling of customer complaints
 Lack of product knowledge
 Difficulty understanding customer inquiries
 Difficulty aligning customers’ needs with products and services
2. As the customer service manager, you know the product/service exists and can probably meet
the customer’s needs – so you step in.
Consider in your approach:
a) How will you talk to the staff member?
b) Will you involve the customer?
c) What information can be shared and what doesn’t need to be?
d) How will you ensure your staff member learns from the experience?
e) Gain feedback from your colleague or class member with respect to:
 your ability to handle the situation
 pros and cons of your approach
 Recommendations for improvement.

12