BRL-004

CUSTOMERSERVICE
MANAGEMENT

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EXPERTCOMMITTEEMEMBERS
Abraham,Senior Retail Consultant &Advisor,Retailers Association of India, Mumbai.
Dr. Bajaj, Director, International School of Business Media, Bangalore.
Gibson G CEO, Retailers Association of India, Mumbai.
Sh. K. Venugopal, Bell International (P) New Delhi.
Prof. SOMS, IGNOU, New Delhi.
Sh. Kripesh Hariharan, Vice President,Pantaloon Retail India Ltd., Bangalore.
Dr. Krishnendu Sarkar, Head-LearningServices, NSHM Business School,
Sh. Kumar Rajgopalan, President, Retail Solutions, India, Mumbai.
Sh. Lawrence Fernandes, Director, Retail Learning, Retailers Association of India, Mumbai.
Dr. Mamta Kapoor, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd., Bangalore.
Prof. Nawal SOMS, IGNOU, New Delhi.
Prof. N.V. Director, SOMS, IGNOU, New Delhi.
Dr. N.V.R. Nathan,Vice President Cluster Development Initiative Limited, Bangalore.
Prof. Rammohan Rao, School of Management Studies, University,Waltair.
Prof. Raju,SOMS, IGNOU, New Delhi.
Dr. Subhamaya Panda, Associate Professor, Institute of Management Information Sci
Bhubaneswar.
Prof. K Panda, IIM,
Prof. V. Venkata Ramana, Dean, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad,
Hyderabad.
Dr. Vijay Lecturer,SOMS,IGNOU,New Delhi.
Dr. Reddy,Regional Director, IGNOU Regional Centre, Delhi-I,New Delhi.
Dr. Madhulika, Lecturer, SOMS,IGNOU, New Delhi.
Dr. Bansal,Lecturer, SOMS, IGNOU,New Delhi..

COURSEPREPARATIONTEAM
Course
Dr. Mamta Prof. Kamal Yadav
Prof. Rammohan Rao SOMS, IGNOU,
Prof. Venkata Ramana
Sh. Jayakanthan M Dr. V. VenugopalReddy
Sh. Regional Director
Sh. IGNOU Regional Centre, Delhi-I
New
Dr. Mamta Kapoor Dr. Madhulika,Lecturer
SOMS,IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. Bansal,Lecturer
SOMS. IGNOU. New Delhi
PRINT PRODUCTION
Mr. B. Mr. S. Burman Mr. Sudkir Kumar
Deputy Registrar (P) Registrar (P) Section Officer (P)
MPDD, MPDD, MPDD,

July, 2010 (Reprint)

IndiraGandhi National Open University,2008
ISBN NO.
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Printed and published on behalf of Indira Gandhi National Open University,New Delhi by the
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COURSE INTRODUCTION
e have become a service based economy. As competition has become more global and
ore intense, organizationscannot competeon price alone. Many companies have developed
of providing superior customer care to differentiate their products and services.
ervice important to customers and it is equally important for business growth. Customers
e five times more likely to switch vendors because of perceived service problems than
r concernsor product quality issues. Bottom line in customer service is that customer
ants feel cared about and respected, and that they are more likely to return if these
are met. This course on Customer Service Management consists of twelve

nit 1 to Customer Service":The importanceof developinga valued relationship

ith customers is essential in supporting long-term business growth. This unit introduces
e concept of customer service and defines what this means to the customers. It gives an
on various parameters of Customer service.
classificationof customer

nit 3 "Steps in Selling": Every customer is a potential buyer. This unit talks about all the
domponents of selling right from welcoming the customer till closing the sale.
nit 4 "Retail Selling Selling remains fundamental in retail. Through this unit, you
ill be to develop a basic understanding of different formats in retail selling and have
overview on retail selling
nit "Customer Expectations":Customers perceive service in their own unique emotional,
and totally human terms - perception is all that matters. This unit focuses on the ,
nds of customer personalities, what does a customer wants or expects and how to meet
o exceed expectations.
6 "Service Quality": Quality is the key consideration for the customers in selecting a
many choices. Ensuring quality services to the customers in every transaction
d at all the time is a major challenge to retail organizations. This unit focuses on defining
dimensions, determinants, benefits and issues in service quality.
nit 7 "Customer Experience Management": Without the customers it is not possible for
a y business to sustain. Customer experience management assumes that products and
s rvices are no longer sufficient to satisfy the customer and elevate the value proposition to
e level of an experience. Through this unit, you will understand what customer experience
the benefits of customer experience and how to manage this experience.
nit 8 "Customer Loyalty": Loyalty has always been important to business success and
To keep the customer loyal and retain a customer is the key to the success.
on factors, which affect customer loyalty and on building customer

it 9 "Grievance and Complaint Management System": In the retail industry we are faced
many difficult customers who have the potential to turn violent if they are not handled
This unit focuses on the types of customers and their complaints and takes you
complaint management process.
10 "Service Recovery": After going through the unit, you will be able to understand all
of service recovery and how to handle situations when things go wrong.
11"Internal Marketing":To have satisfied customers, the firm must also have satisfied
This unit focuses on the employees, the importance of building a positive culture

it 12 "Communicating with the customer": It becomes important to communicate with

e customer to build effectiverelationships. This unit focuses on the significanceof listening
customer and educating the customer.

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 1 INTRODUCTION TO CUSTOMER
SERVICE

1.2 is Customer Service?

1.3 Service is an Attitude
1.4 and Importance of Customer Service
1.5 and CustomerService
1.6 Us Sum Up
1.7 Questions

After studying this unit you will be able to:

the meaning of customer service;
your role in providing superior customer service:
I
the importance of customer service; and
selling and customer service.

Custo Service also known as Service"is becoming a vital business issue as

tions the benefits of managing customer relationships by providing
effectiv support. From small customer departments to large call
centers, the importance of developing a valued relationship with customers is essential
sup rting long-term business growth. The best product in the world is just going to
on helves and gather dust if you don't support it with customer service that
your product 'better' than the identical product offered by the competitor. Good
customer service is the life blood of any retailer.
we talk about customer service we are also talking of
Service and Great Customer Service. Great customer means giving customers
they want. That's easy to say, not so easy to figure occasionally difficult
do! Great Customer Service requires satisfaction of the customer; satisfaction with
services provided and satisfaction with the way provide them.
service is meeting the needs and expectations of the customer as defined by
customer. "Meeting the needs and expectations the customer'' means you
know what your customers want and what they expect, and you provide that to them
on a consistent basis. And to know what your customers want, you've got to ask
Realizing the importance of customer service the 'Journal of Retailing'
internationaljournal on retailingcame out with a special issue in 2007 entitled
Through Service'. According to the journal it came out with the
because those that leverage service build strong with Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
 customers that will generate to competition, increase customer loyalty and
make market activities more efficient.
As obvious as that may sound, many companies establish customer service initiatives
without ever to their customers. "As defined by the customer" is a very
important point to get because it says that if the customer doesn't perceive you as
offering good customer service, then you aren't. The customer is the judge here. No
matter how good your internal records claim you are, the customer is the only voice
worth listening to. So in order to have an effective customer service initiative, you
must know what your customers want, provide it to them consistently, and ask them
how you're doing.

1.2 WHATIS CUSTOMER SERVICE?

Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer
satisfaction - that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer
expectation. Providing Customer Service means creating a positive and memorable
experience for every customer. Customers are satisfied when the service are met or
exceeds their expectations. Customers are dissatisfied when they feel the service falls
below their expectations. Customer service hence could mean:
Taking care of customers needs
Going beyond what is expected
Adding value and integrity to every customer interaction
Being at best with every customer
Lalonde and customer serve as Those activities that occur at
the interface between the customer and the corporation which enhance or
facilitate the sale and use of the corporation's products or services".
I According to Zeithaml and Bitner, customer service is the service provided in
support of a company's core product. Customer service most often includes answering
questions,taking orders, dealing with billing issue, handling complaints, and perhaps
scheduling maintenance or repairs. Customer service can occur (as when a
retail employee helps a customer find a desired item or answer a question), or can
occur over the phone or via internet. Many companies operate customer service call
centres, often staffed around the clock. there is no charge for customer
service. Quality customer serviceis essential to building customer relationship.
Customer service that gives retailers their robust sales figures is more complex than
the superficial "How may I help you" of yesteryear. Today, retailers have to respond to
the customer demands on many levels, from making the store an inviting destination to
shelves regularly and stocking the right mix of products. At the same time,
training for customer service representatives on store floors has become much more
important as well as rigorous. World class customer service providers believe that
customer service is not a department but a philosophy - a way of life - that should be
practiced by all employees at every level of the organization and that it's their people
that set them apart from the competition. It involves a thousand, concrete, minute
actions performed by everyone in an organization to keep the customer happy. Good
customer service is all about bringing customers back.

My Role
a salesperson what is my role. Am I really important? Lets look at the following
questions.
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customer know the Store
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 Does the customer know the Floor Manager?
Customer Service
the customer know the Category Head?
In that case:
Who is the only person the customer interacts with?
Who is the person who can influence whether the customer likes the store or
not?
Who can ensure whether the customer will come back or not?
It is " YOU as a salesperson who is directly in contact with the customer.
I am the face of the organization.
I am the face of the store.
I am the face of the

2) Some hard factsabout the customers

It is 10 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain a current
customer
A typical dissatisfied customer will tell 8-10 people about his problem.
7 of 10 complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the
complaintin theirfavour.
If you resolve a complaint on the spot 95% will do business again.
A good customer service hence becomes essential for the business to increase
productivity and to gain an edge over the competition.

3) Good and Bad customer Service

Good and Bad customer service leaves following impact on the customers:
Good Customer Service
Leaves positive memory of you and the store
Meets and exceeds customer expectations
Creates loyal and returning customers
Gains more customers
Leads to profits
Positive publicity
Positive image
Bad Customer Service
Leaves a negative memory of you and the store
Does not even meet the basic customer expectations
Creates indifferent and non-returning customers
Loses customers
Leads to loss

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 Service Negative publicity
Management
Negative image
If as the service provider, you don't feel good about your work, how will you make a
customer feel good? If you think you are not special, how will you make somebody
else feel special.. .!!
"Remember, excellent service is a win-win experience!"

4) Why Improving Customer Experience is Important?

Everyday we have experiences that come from interacting with people and
companies. We go to the coffee shop, fill up our gas tanks, call our bank to transfer
funds, and so on. Our experiences leave us with both physical and emotional
impressions. The physical impressions come from what happened during the
experience. Emotional impressions come from feeling good or bad about the people
and the services we come across. This is called "customer experience".
Customer Experience plays a large part in the customer's overall loyalty. Loyalty is
important in building long term commitment. People remember the experience they
have had - especially the very good ones and the very bad ones - and these
experiences are shared with friends and colleagues. Companies who focus on
customer loyalty have a distinct advantage over companies that do not. Customer
retention leads to profits, loyalty and creates new demand from new customers.

5) Parameters that help in good customer service

a Attentive Listening: The salesperson should be able to focus on what the
customer is explaining and not what is convenient for him to understand..
a Positive attitude: Maintaining an optimistic attitude helps in effective customer
service. Salesperson should be able to create a vibrant and positive atmosphere
around him.
a Clarity in communication: Effective and clear communication involves: using
simple language; avoiding technical terms; speaking customers language.
a Giving feeling of confidence to the customers: The salesperson should
understand the product well and get all the facts right to be able to give
confidence to the customer that he has knowledge and knows what he is talking
about.
a Make customer feel important: While interacting, he should be totally engaged
with the customer and his attention should not be diverted on anything else.
a Ability to sooth feathers: The salesperson should have the ability to
handle conflicts,if any, in the interaction.

Barriers to customer service

a Unhelpful Attitude: Customers are a part of the salesperson's job and not an
extension. The salesperson should understand that customer service is more
important than selling the product,
Laziness: Trying to avoid the customer through laziness is not going to help the
interaction.

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, Poor communication skills: Not having good communication skills makes the to
Services
customer confused and does not help in making for the customer.
Poor time management: Customer does not like to wait too long to be served.
Having poor time management results in waiting unnecessarily for long
time, which results in losing of a customer.
Lack of knowledge: Customer expects you to have good knowledge of the
product you are selling. If the customer does not get the answers to his questions
he may be unable to make a decision of buying the product which can result in
you losing a customer.
"Removing these barriers is important. All you have to do is be aware of your
mistakes and learn from them"
Activity 1 :
As a customer, identify a positive and a negative customer service experience you had
over the past month. List out your reasons for:
a) Outstanding Customer Service
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
b) Unsatisfactory Customer Service
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
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1.3 SERVICE ISAN ATTITUDE
In order to be committed, you need to be able to see the purpose of what you are
doing. Make sure you keep developing and maintaining a positive attitude towards
your job.
Let us look a number of different attitudes to life as expressed in the attitudes
people have towards their job, and the commitment they put into it.

Single and Double Bagger

A person putting customers shopping into bags in a supermarket is called
many supermarkets a bagger can be found behind the cashier. They take the
customers groceries from the cash counter and put them into bags.
To become a "Bagger" requires little or no education. The job may not offer many
possibilities for development - at first sight. However, like all other jobs it can be
carried out in different ways, with differing results, dependent on the bagger's attitude
to life.

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You can have different attitudes to your job. You can be a "Single Bagger" or a
"Double Bagger"
Single Baggers: Single baggers are people who limit their own development and
the development of others.
Single baggers have a negative attitude towards their work, their colleagues, and their
surrounding. They lack commitment and have made up their minds not to consider
their working hours to be a rewarding and worthwhile part of life.
Single baggers use only one bag - hence the name - and do not care whether this one
bag will be secure. The groceries are stuffed into the bag randomly, grapes and potato
chips first, and perhaps a bottle of tomato ketchup on top.
This "Tricky"operation is done without much trouble and toil. Often accompanied by
sighs, moaning and groaning and any other clear signals of displeasure. Single baggers
feel the victims of circumstances and complain about the miserable pay, the lack of
breaks, appalling draught from the door and the poor prospects for the future. Their
body language clearly reveals their lack of commitment. Their eyes dimmed long ago,
they have a drooping mouth, their body stopping, they move in slow motion.
If their colleague at the check out says, "Hurry up! Can't you see we have a long
queue"-the single bagger gives his colleague a blank look, shrugs his shoulders and
says with a gesture of despair "Well, what do you expect - I've only got two hands!"
That is what makes single baggers so special. They only have two hands - therefore
there is not much they can do with their lives!
Double Baggers: Double baggers are people who develop themselves and help
other develop too.
Like single baggers, double baggers also have two hands - but they put both to good
use. Double baggers have a positive attitude to life, and deeply committed to their
work and their personal life. They generally strive to get the best out of life.
Double baggers make the bag secure with an extra bag - hence the name. They sort
and pack the groceries efficiently and safely. And they still have time and energy to
give a smile and a friendly remark to customers. They may even find the time to see
the customers to the car park and help them load the groceries, saying "Thank you for
shopping with us. Hope to see you again soon". Double baggers take responsibility for
their own lives. They realize that total commitment to their work brings its reward.
They meet happier customers, they get attention and recognition from colleagues and
managers. In this way double baggers boost their own morale and their sense of well
being and feel more optimistic about the future.
Double baggers have a positive attitude to life, are deeply committed, feel responsible
for their achievements. They have neither the time for nor the inclination to negative
criticism or complaint. They spend their time creating positive results and good
relationships.
The double bagger attitude prevents many conflicts between people at home and at
work and instead, contributes to solving most problems.
Single baggers and double baggers are found everywhere in society - not only in
supermarkets - they are also found in the home, in public and private organizations.
There are single bagger and double bagger sales, staff, lawyers, waiters, managing
directors, secretaries, guests, course participants, customers, parents, spouses, etc.

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Single baggers can be prisoners of their own attitudes. They have come to a stand to
still. They haven't got the strength to move on. When-late, which is often, a single
bagger blames the weather, the traffic, the lack of spaces in the car park, and
everybody else.
You can have. the best product, a sound marketing plan, and an ideal location. But if
your contact employees don't deliver on the promise, nothing else matters.
An excellent customer service from you should be

Making customers feel special, giving them the impression that they are your
I
priority number one.

Giving every customer a memorable experience, ensuring they will be pleased to

return to you next time.
Treating every customer with respect.
Anticipatingand exceeding customer expectations,giving them something extra
to remember you by.

1.4 THE NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER

SERVICE
Customer service is the critical factor for success in business. Your
must be better than your competitors if your business is to attract and retain customers.
Remember that the greatest profits result from customer retention, loyalty and repurchase
rather than new customer acquisitions.
Much of customer service comes down to common sense. Give customers what they
want and make sure they are happy. If you just manage complaints, offer refunds, or
smile at customers, you are only providing a small part of excellent customer service.
Customer service also means going out of your way for the customer, doing everything
possible to satisfy the customer, and making decisions that benefit the customer.
doesn't mean that you should give away the store to the customer. However, you
know when and how often the customer is right. When customers try to take
advantage of you, or become disruptive or abusive, they definitely are not right. While
they may not always be right, they are always the customers. That's the only point you
to remember.
Clustomer service pays. You may have to spend some money in training programmes for
and there may be other costs involved in revamping or revising the service delivery
within the organization.Still, in the long run, customer servicealways pays off,
the way it pays off the most is in long-term customer retention.
improved customer service continues to be a major focus for retailers, the path to
it can vary from one retailer to another. Some retailers simply collect and
maintain customer contact information to use as part of mass- marketing campaigns.
Others track their customers purchase histories to better understand customers buying
habits and tailor specific marketing messages to select group of customers. Still others
implement unique, value-added services to create a one-of-a-kind shopping experience
that will separate them from their competitors. Regardless, the recognition of customers
in business, and the related emphasis
to be the focus among successful

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 --
Customer Service
Management Some on Customer Service
'The goal as a company is to have a customer service that is not just the best,
but legendary.
- Sam Walton
'Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game,
service wins the game'
-Tony Alessandra
. 'You'll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily
duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can't be copied'
- Jerry Fritz
starts with respect. If you respect the customer as a human being, and
honour their rights to be treated fairly and honestly, everything else is much
easier'
- Unknown
The best way to sell is to make it convenient to buy'
- Unknown
'Although your customers won't love you if you give bad service, your
competitors will'
- Kate
'If we don't take care of our customers, someone else will'
-Unknown

1.5 CUSTOMER SERVICE

Effective and efficient selling depends, to a large extent, on good customer care. Customers
who know they are being treated well will be willing to continue as customer and so will
buy again and again, provided they are given the opportunity. Selling is the leading edge
of customer care - until someone becomes a customer you cannot provide high-quality
after-sales service. At the same time, high-quality customer care encourages people to
buy. Customer care, therefore, is the bedrock of efficient selling. No one person in an
organisation is wholly responsible for either selling or for delivering customer service.
There is a customer care loop in which sellers, service providers and customers operate.
By serving and selling well, each person creates 'windows of opportunity' to generate
more sales and deliver more service.
Good care is the basis of increased sales. Regular customers use their past
experience of staff actions and attitudes as part of their decision to buy (or not to buy).
Customers also need the opportunity to buy products presented to them in a professional
and customer-friendlyway. Customers, therefore, buy more than the products or services
on offer - they also buy (or reject) staff attitudes and service levels. Staff must be
aware of this and also of their own attitudes if they are to contribute to increased sales.
"Some customers expect a lot from salespeople, some expect very-little, and some don't
know what to expect"
Frequently, customers expect salespeople merely to be suppliers of products rather than
resources with solutions that can save time, make them money, increase productivity,
and retain customers. Salespeople who have developed the skills to open a customer's
mind to a new set of expectations are often the most successful.
Following are the to keep in mind for Effective Selling via Good Customer Service.

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 Introduction to
Services

The Mantra for good customer service is "Ownership". This means:

Your Store
Take pride, be a great team player, be knowledgeable about things sell so that
you can answer queries such as 'How does it work?' or 'What does do?
Own Your Space
Keep it clean, organized, and well stocked
Own Your Appearance
Be clean, be presentable, wear clean well ironed smell good
Own Your Behaviour
Smile, welcome customers, extend help and support, provide informatic answer
queries and solve problems, maintain positive body language. Customer.; .
likely to ask you for help if you have already shown yourself to be and
approachable.
Own Your Customers
Go theextra mile to make them happy, be proactive,and take responsibility their
needs, providing quality product and a customer asks for something that
is out of stock or discontinued, offer an appropriate alternative.

Promises
Good salespeople give customers a reason to return to the store. And that's
because no retailer sells anything that customers can't get from another retailer.
Following is a list of customer-service promises that each employee can use:
" I promise to treat customers the way I would like to be treated.
"My most important job is to make sure the customer comes back."
" I understand how much customers hate waiting in line to check out, and how
much they hate being ignored."
" I promise not to make personal phone calls when I am working."
" I promise to smile when I answer the phone, and to not put customers on hold
forever.
"I promise to say 'Thank you' to all customers."
• "I understand that I am empowered to solve problems."
This is a huge deal. Empowering can , et the store apart from most
others.
---
1.6 LET US SUM UP
Customer service is the service provided in support of a company's core products.
Good customer service is the lifeblood any retailer. It generates barriers to
competition, increases customer loyalty and makes the company's activities more

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Customer Service efficient. Customer service has a lot to do with employee atitude as it is you as a
salesperson who is directly in contact with the customer and for him you are the face
of the store. You must have the attitude of a 'double bagger'. The Parameters that help
in good customer service include active listening, positive attitude, clarity in
communication, giving a feeling of confidence to the customer and making them feel
important. Effective selling via good customer service involves ownership by the
salesperson in terms of owning the store, space, appearance, behaviour and customer.

1.7 TERMINALQUESTIONS
1) What do you understand by customer service?

2) Explain the role of salesperson in providing customer service.

3) What do you understand by the terms 'single bagger' and 'double bagger'?
Explain with examples.

4) Discuss the importance of customer service for a retailing organization.

4) What are the key points to be considered by you for effective selling via
Customer Service?

1.8 REFERENCES
Gerson F Richard, Beyond Customer Keeping Customers for Life, Los Altos,
Calif:Crisp Publications, 1992.
Woods A . John and Ron Best Practice in Customer Service, New York,
American Association, 1999.

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