BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

• Subject Code : BSBCUS501
• University : Richmond School Of Business My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : Manage quality customer service

Written answers

A1.

The Purpose of the Australian Consumer law is to enhance the welfare of the citizens of Australia. In addition to that, the law promotes fair trading and competition including the customer’s protections. The law covers the product’s safety, labeling, and unfair market practices. The law has set some rights which are also called the customer guarantee, for the customers and abides by them. 

A2.

The Australian Consumer Law provides the repair, replace, a refund for the product or service if it does not meet the consumer guarantee. In addition to that, the customer has the right to cancel a service, and even claim for the compensation of the damages and losses. 

A3.

Businesses must give a guarantee for the products and services they sell. Furthermore, business vehicles and trailers are given a guarantee. The consumers have the right to claim for the guarantee if the business fails to meet the consumer guarantee, to ask for the repair, replacement, refund, canceling, and compensation for the damages or loss.

A4.

As the Australian Customer law defines that the consumers can claim for their rights so it is unlawful for a retailer to put a sign that says “no refunds”. The signs suggest that it is impossible to get a refund under any circumstances. It is a right of the consumers to claim the guarantee the stores (including both offline and online) can’t take away those fundamental rights of the customer. 

A5.

Consumers are legally entitled to refund or replace the product or services when there is a major problem with something they bought. They lose their right to refund or replace the product or services when they change their mind and no longer want the product.

A6.

The extra promises are also known as the express warranties which are sometimes offered by the sellers and the manufactures when comes to things such as quality, condition, performance or any other characteristics of the product. The sellers, if committed, have to live up to the express warranty offered to the customer. 

A7.

Every business tends to get a complaint at some point in time. It is the complaints handling policy which includes the reassuring the customers about the products and services. The benefits of have effective complain handling includes the loyalty of the customer against the product. The second benefit can be that the businesses get to know their faults and get an opportunity to improve by collecting the feedback from the customers. The effective way to deal with a complaint includes actively listening to the complaints, record their issue, analyze the facts, suggest the customer with various suggestions, quick action taking and lastly keeping up to the promises. 

A8.

The following steps that a salesperson should follow when a customer visits the store are:

• Always smile and greet the customers.

• Dress in a clean and proper uniform. 

• Acknowledgment to the customers as soon as they enter the store.

• Remember the preference of frequent customers to build good relations. 

• Thank them while leaving.

A9.

The service standards are the required fulfilments by a service that should be delivered. This concept is important not only for the consumers but also for the service building. The service standards assist in improving the trade and take the organization towards growth. The instant service and customer awareness are examples of the same.

A10.

The company already practicing the best customer services also has to update with the time and the competition. The customers are dynamic in nature and the customer services also change with the needs and want. The company committed to delivering the best will be collecting data and strive to be the best and will always want the customers to choose them over their competition.

A11.

Every company needs marketing to promote their business in society. Public relations is the foundation of building the brand. It is the process where strategic communications help to build relations organizations and the community which helps to build a strong base of the organization.

A12.

1. Advertisements

2. Sales promotions

3. Public relations

4. Personal selling

5. Direct marketing

A13.

Public relations promote the positive image of the company in the minds of the people who are the possible customers of the brand. It helps to generate publicity and builds strong goodwill of the company with the aim of increase in sales. The process impacts customer service as the customers feel that they are valued by the business and build strong relations with the organizations. 

A14.

Verbal communication also plays a vital part in building customer services. It can be improved by having clarity in the thought process. Moreover, both parties communicating should understand each other. The tone of the voice should be gentle and subtle while speaking. In addition to these, always acknowledge the feedbacks and work upon the shortcomings. The most important point is that always while communicating, be an active listener. 

A15.

Always face the person with a hearing-impaired person while communicating. Reduce the distance between you and the listener as he or she will read the lips when you speak. Always say the name of the listener as he will know when you begin the sentence and changes of losing the track reduces. Always maintain a low pace as the listener will read the words. The key to communicating with a specific person is to understand the person carefully.

A16.

1. Responding to a customer’s query as soon as possible

2. Give them a family-like feeling 

3. Understand their needs

4. Always mitigate the mistakes 

5. Acknowledge the customers and always put them first.

A17.

An unhappy customer can damage the reputation of the business; moreover, the leads will not convert into sales. The customers will not be retained as they don’t feel valued. The employees will also tend to leave organizations. The business and the goodwill of the business go crashing down. 

A18.

The importance of customer behavior is that it helps marketers to recognize and predict the purchase that the customer makes. This understanding not only gives the marketers an idea that what the customers purchase but also enables them to predict why they purchase a particular product. The possible technique of understanding customer behavior is to collect data through surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups, etc. the second technique is though anchoring of pricing. 

A19.

• Surveys: Data is collected by a group of random individuals and then analyzed to come up with a result.

• Focus groups: the sessions have some series of questions that the individuals have to answer and according to that the analysis is done.

• Observations: analyze the customer while purchasing gives a way better understanding of the customer needs and what they tend to purchase. 

A20.

It helps the business to understand the customer in a better way, enable the businesses to continuously improve with the learning through the mistakes, improves the customer’s loyalty towards the brand/business, and moreover, if the person is happy then it will increase the word-of-mouth advertisements as he or she will go and promote the service he or she received. 

ASSESSMENT 2

1. Regulation Report  

Businesses in Australia are affected by the Australian Consumer Law. To work with businesses and customers one must know the consumer law and how do these laws affect the businesses as well as customers. This law is under the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to protect consumers. If you are selling the products and services they should know the laws of the local state/ territory as well as other states. Customer service is the most important factor as bad customer service will reach more ears in comparison with good customer service. A large amount of customers tends to leave the organization if they face issues in the customer service of that company (Anon, 2019).  

The businesses should always keep their registrations up to date. The businesses should be understanding the customer in-depth. Survey the business where the customers are and customize according to the customers (Accc.gov.au. 2019). Then according to the data collected anticipate the demands of the consumers. This adds value to a relationship with the customer. Always use innovative techniques to communicate with the community (Anon, 2019).   There are various customer service strategies that are developed by the companies which help the business to develop and provide a quality service to the customers. Fair price, good services, good products, and feeling valued are the main examples of customer service strategies. The key expectations of the customers are that the businesses should be honest with their promises, communicate with them properly, understand their needs and give them high-quality work. If there are any complaints follow up and communicate with them as effective communication is the key to build a good and long-lasting relation with the customers (Accc.gov.au. 2019). In addition to that, the customer is attracted to the relatively low costs of the services, the quick customer’s response to the query or booking of services gives a sense of responsible business. The competent businesses always stand out from the other businesses.

2. Customer service strategy

Effective management understands the importance of customer needs and the need to satisfy customer expectations. According to Anon (2019) this can be effectively be done by creating a customer service strategy. By incorporating these strategies into the business goals, an organization can deliver effective customer services. The first step in every business is to communicate with the customer to understand their needs and the expectations from the product or the services offered by the organizations. Moreover, train the staff and the employees for improving the delivery quality in the services (Anon, 2019).   This is mandatory for the businesses so that they are able to deliver better customer services and are assessing customer needs. Furthermore, the business should include hiring the right employees with the possession of the right skills to assist in delivering strong customer services. Here is the point which explains the strategies which a business makes:

• Make a vision for delivering the Customer Service Strategy.

• To understand the customers, take investigate their needs and expectations.

• Hiring the right employees according to their skill set.

• Set goals for the operations of the goals to deliver the best service.

• Continuous training should be held, this makes the employees effective in their delivery of the services.

• Continuous monitoring and guidance to the employees and see that they are accountable for their activities. 

• Lastly, it is very important to reward the employees too, who deliver exceptional customer service.

3. Email to the management team

To General Manager,

Greetings for the day!

This is to inform the management team for the meeting with the General Manager to summarise the minutes of the meets and the strategies that have been proposed in the customer service strategies earlier.

I have attached both the Regulations report and the customer service points discussed above in this mail. Please find the attachment below. 

I would like to introduce and summarise the discussion, after the understanding of the customer’s needs and expectations the organization has come up with some points to improve the organization’s performance in regards to delivering the customer services. 

Make sure you all are prepared and updated with the subject. Please feel free to ask as many questions.

Have a nice day!

Best regards.
Operational Manager

4. Meeting

• It is important to develop great customer service to build customer loyalty. Furthermore, if loyal customers will be satisfied with the service then they tend to spend more into the business. On the other hand, the customers will be retained, that he will be returning to the business again and again to benefit the service of the business. In addition to that, the customers will indirectly increase the goodwill of the customers by generating the word-of-mouth promotion of the services. Moreover, the legislation under the law the customer’s rights are saved and the businesses acting according to the regulations blooms. 

• Stating with the understanding of the customer and business gap. These will help in creating the organizational goals and communicate the customer service vision to the employees. Secondly, the employees would be given the right training that would be working towards the needs of the customers; in addition to that, the skilled employees would be hired to improve the efficiency of the organization. Furthermore, the goals for every employee will be set and they will be accountable for every action they take. The continuous monitoring in all the departments would be a crucial part of the business.

• Then I would like to brief you all about the techniques to attend the customers when they arrive in the stores.

• Always smile and greet the customers.

• Dress in a clean and proper uniform. 

• Acknowledgment to the customers as soon as they enter the store.

• Remember the preference of frequent customers to build good relations. 

• Thank them while leaving.

This will help the employees to build relationships with the customers and furthermore, in retaining them as they feel valued while using the service. 

• Plans to achieve the goals are fixed and the strategy to achieve them is that the proper training and grooming of the employees will be done and the hiring of skilled employees will help in achieving the goals for the customer services.

5. Revision of the above points

The General Manager agreed to start the training and the grooming of the employees as they can be efficient in delivering the best service. The document of the revised Customer Service Strategy is given by the General Manager after revising the strategies. 

6. Screenshot 

7. Email to the management team

To General Manager,
Greetings for the day!

This is to inform about the decisions taken in the meeting held earlier. The Management Team will be undergoing the training and skill development sessions for improving the services provided to the customers. In addition to the training, the hiring process will be started soon for skilled people to improve the quality of the services. This will be improving the business as the customer will feel valued.

I have attached the revised customer service strategy’s screenshot in this mail. Please find the attachment below. 

Have a nice day!

Best regards.
Operational Manager

 ASSESSMENT 3 - Customer Service Delivery project

1. Customer service analysis

The business, in order to grow, should review their performance in the market and analyze the feedback given by the customers and work on the decrease the response time to every issue (Accc.gov.au. 2019). The customer analysis is a critical component of any business plan, as it helps in analyzing the customers and defines the issues and the needs of the customers. According to the analysis, businesses can upgrade their service quality and further increasing their market share (Anon, 2019). The report reveals some of the most important information that can be worked upon and make the business grow. In other words, if the business does not know what do the customers want and expect out of the businesses, then it is difficult for the businesses to last long (CMG, 2019).

After the meeting with the General Manager, the project of improvement was begun, so know the business decided to analyze the performance of the organization at the stage so that they get to know about the gaps and fill them to be competent in the market again. The results by reviewing the customer gave these points:

• Improvement in the business’s response time to the issues and requests to the emails.

• Preventing the customers to call back to and fro about their issues.

• Rewarding the best service provider within the employees that will motivate him as well as the others too.

• Set the customer issues as priority wise, over time and take according to strategic decisions.

• Understand and improve the delivery process such that the customers feel valued. 

• Enhance customer retention and ensure the loyalty of the customers, which will benefit the business.

• Customer service improvement in considering the cost-effectiveness.

After the analysis the conclusion of the report left the business with some measures that are mandatory for the business to sustain are; the reduction of the response time and improving the quality of the service provided so that the customer feels valued. 

2. Service delivery analysis meeting

The outline of the responses of the customers listed some points:

• Reducing the response time to the issues and requests to the emails.

• Improving the quality of the service provided so that the customer feels valued. 

The actions needed by the organizations for the respective issues are:

• Setting up good techniques to receive complaints and quick actions to be taken.

• Frequent surveys should be taken to understand the customer more deeply and serve them in a more appropriate manner.

• In addition to that continuous monitoring of the managers is needed so that they can hinder in between whenever there is the need for guidance. 

• Keep connected with your vendors and service providers that they feel valued and help the businesses to grow through word-of-mouth. 

• Analyze and identify the main issues frequently occurring on the complaints by the customers.

3. Email to the customer service team

To the Customer service team,

The outline of the responses of the customers listed some points were; reduction in the response time to the issues and requests to the emails and improving the quality of the service provided so that the customer feels valued. 

There were various measures agreed upon in the analysis done earlier. In addition, the businesses should develop a system that is competent in receiving the complaints and moreover quick actions should be taken regarding those issues. Furthermore, there should be frequent surveys conducted with the customers so that the organization can understand the customer’s needs and improve their services. Complaints by the customers should not take too long be resolved, as the customer loses interest in the business if the customer does not feel valued. 

My suggestions for the issue here would be that the business should continuously monitor the Customer Service Policy about the new trends or some updates to be done with respect to serving the high quality of the services. 

I have attached the customer service analysis in this mail. Please find the attachment below. 

Have a nice day!

Best regards.
Operational Manager

ASSESSMENT 4-Complaints analysis reports

 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BRIEFING NOTE 

This Briefing Note highlights the key complaints from the customers regarding Customer services. There are 6 customers’ complaints against the business, that it should consider the customers’ expectations when dealing with customers. This briefing note will brief you on the customer’s complaints and will help in the development of the businesses. 

PURPOSE 

The purpose of this note is to inform the Manager of the department about the various complaints against customer services. The purpose of the report is to highlight the issues of the customers. Lately, the customer base is increased compared to earlier, so as the complaints. There are various complaints recorded lately, majorly related to the validity of the vouchers. The report highlights 6 customers who have complaints.

CURRENT SITUATION 

Last October, the company signed up to a number of groups buying websites in order to increase the customer base. The demand for businesses’ services has been increased lately. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in the complaints as well. 

BACKGROUND 

The 6 complaints that have been registered in the complaints register are as follows:

• Three customers are facing issues in redeeming their vouchers. The customer service officers have checked the vouchers after the customers filled the complaints and found that the vouchers are out of date. After understanding the complaints customer service officers had advised the customers that they cannot redeem their vouchers as the vouchers they have are out of date. On the other hand, those two customers had complains submitted to the Department of Fair Trading as they were not able to redeem the services they paid for and were disappointed with the service of the business. In addition to that those customers claimed that the company’s refund policy differs from the information provided on their web site as it does not refer to refunds in relation to vouchers. 

• Two customers have filled complain that they had to suffer from a long waiting period to redeem their vouchers for an introductory clean. Although this is because in signing up to group buying the demand for services resulted in delays. 

• A customer called and complained that they faced problems in booking for an introductory clean. Moreover, the company informed the customers that the existing voucher covered only the one-hour free voucher and in addition, the clients have to pay the full additional amount of $70. 

The Australian Customer Law guarantees the rights for the product and the services to every customer, there are some national rules set by the committee. The government has facilitated the individuals with simple and convenient rules and regulations for the support of the customers as well as the businesses in Australia. (Business.gov.au. 2019). 

 According to the report, the relevant legislation that will apply in this situation are:

• Fair Trading Laws:

The Purpose of the Australian Consumer law is to enhance the welfare of the citizens of Australia. In addition to that, the law promotes fair trading and competition including the customer’s protections. The law covers the product’s safety, labeling, and unfair market practices. The law has set some rights which are also called the customer guarantee, for the customers and abides by them.

• Supply of cleaning products

This law prevents the customers from unnecessary disputes and the terms and conditions are clearly outlined and explained in such a manner that every individual is able to understand. It states that all the products and services should be delivered with the proper Terms and conditions mentioned on the packaging. The extra promises are also known as the express warranties which are sometimes offered by the sellers and the manufactures when comes to things such as quality, condition, performance or any other characteristics of the product. The sellers, if committed, have to live up to the express warranty offered to the customer. The service standards are the required fulfilments by a service that should be delivered.

• Refunds policy

The Australian Consumer Law provides the repair, replace, a refund for the product or service if it does not meet the consumer guarantee. In addition to that, the customer has the right to cancel a service, and even claim for the compensation of the damages and losses. As the Australian Customer law defines that the consumers can claim for their rights so it is unlawful for a retailer to put a sign that says “no refunds”. The signs suggest that it is impossible to get a refund under any circumstances. It is a right of the consumers to claim the guarantee the stores (including both offline and online) can’t take away those fundamental rights of the customer. 

This concept is important not only for the consumers but also for the service building. The service standards assist in improving the trade and take the organization towards growth. The company already practicing the best customer services also has to update with the time and the competition. 

The company signed up to a number of groups buying websites in order to increase the customer base. The demand for businesses’ services has been increased lately. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in the complaints as well. There are pros and cons to everything, including this initiative. In the era of modernization, online business is growing at a fast pace. Consumers before stepping out of their homes always tend s to check the products and services online. In consideration of the fact the Oz House clean also signed up with the Groups buying websites and in return, they were having profits. Although the firm gained profit, the number of complaints was also increased. The pros of the website are that the customers get a good deal, daily deal, deal of the day, in the form of vouchers. The customers are benefited from it as the products and the services provided to them are relatively cheaper when they buy it from the online websites. But with good things, some problems also sustains. Sometimes, these vouchers are not available to every individual, as the deal cannot be taken up by the customers. Many cons are there when it comes to the voucher deals. The best way to mitigate the risk is to find exact products and services the customer needs and compare the deals related to the products or the services. Carefully read and understand the Terms and Conditions related to the products. When making a booking, always expect the delays in the services as there are a lot of customers creating the demand on the websites. 

NEXT STEPS TO BE TAKEN TO RECTIFY THIS SITUATION

The businesses which have a well-developed complaint handling policy always tend to overcome such situations easily. A good complaint handling policy should be made by Oz House clean to ensure that the businesses’ daily operations are easily managed. 

For creating a policy the business, first of all, finds the customers who are unhappy with the services and the products of the business. Then the second step is to manage the clients and make them feel valued by setting the customer needs and expectations to the customer service goals. Make the policy straight forward and customer friendly. Remember to Overview the products and services regularly, speed in replying to the customers' queries and complaints communicate with the clients effectively, follow up with the client if they are stuck somewhere, and monitoring of the employees should be one a regular basis. This will help the businesses to retain the customers and make them feel valued. 

After all the analysis the employees should be trained and improved practices should be explained to them for the better performance of the employees which further will improve the customer experience and the business will prosper. 

• 2. Email

To the Customer service team,

This email is to summarise and introduce the briefing report to you. Kindly read the contents and attached files of the briefing report in this mail. Please find the attachment below. 

The outline of the briefing report presented above mentions the businesses should develop a system that is competent in receiving the complaints and moreover quick actions should be taken regarding those issues. Furthermore, there should be frequent surveys conducted with the customers so that the organization can understand the customer’s needs and improve their services. Complaints by the customers should not take too long be resolved, as the customer loses interest in the business if the customer does not feel valued. The Customer Service Policy needs to be revised and evaluation of the current service is needed.

Thank you for taking out time and read this.

Have a nice day!

Best regards.
Operational Manager

ASSESSMENT 5

Based on the customer service issues identified as a result of the customer complaints issue, Oz house Clean has decided to be proactive and identify customer needs through the use of a customer feedback survey. As Operations Manager of Oz house Clean.

1. Research

According to Holtom and Burch (2016), they reviewed the human resource management by applying a model of turn over based disputation in the customer service fields.  The study was done to gain a better understanding of the customer needs and expectations from a particular business. The points taken into consideration were customer satisfaction, perceptions of a service brand, and quality perceptions of service quality. The efficiency and orientation were analyzed by developing the model. This model was potentially fruitful. In addition to that, Chen (2015) highlighted customer services in retail. The study was done to analyze the sustainability of the customer’s loyalty. The study provides us with the information that technology plays a vital role in sustaining customer loyalty, as every guest is attracted to the up to date technology offered by the business. This study leaves us with the information that how technologies, sustainable-effort-related factors and innovations, cause an impact on customer perceptions, experience, selection decisions, and post-sales experience. Moreover, Daugherty, Bolumole, and Grawe in (2019) highlighted a large amount of the LCS research, which reviewed the customer patience level and the escalating requests of the e-commerce and the impacts of the same. The study was done in the logistics field and represented the environment changes in regards to the developing world.

2. Questionnaire

Q1. How often do you use the product or services provided by the Oz House clean?

Q2. Does the product provided by the Oz House clean is matched your expectations?

Q3. Do you face any problems regarding the service provided by the Oz House clean?

Q4. Is the service given by the Oz House clean is satisfactory in terms of quick replying to queries or complaints?

Q5. Are the services given to you are matched to the information on the website?

Q6. Are you satisfied with the voucher facilities given by Oz House clean?

Q7. Are you facing any kind of breach by the end of the Oz House Clean?

Q8. Any recommendations for the Oz House clean that you think the company should change?

Q9. In the future would you be willing to hire our services again?

Q10. Would you recommend our services to your family and friends? 

3. Email

To the Customer service team,

This email is to give an outline of the purpose of conducting the survey. Kindly read the contents and attached files of the briefing report in this mail. Please find the attachment below. 

The purpose of conducting the survey was to fulfill the need of taking the frequent survey by the clients to maintain the businesses’ USP. Furthermore, the goal of having frequent surveys conducted with customers is to be fulfilled. The organization can understand the customer’s needs and improve their services by conducting the survey or communicating and following up with the clients. Complaints by the customers should not take too long to be resolved. The Customer Service surveys are needed to be conducted frequently and evaluation of the current service should follow that. 

Thank you for taking out time and read this.

Have a nice day!

Best regards.
Operational Manager

4. Customer Survey report

The possible technique of understanding customer behavior is to collect data through surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups, etc. the second technique is though anchoring of pricing. 

• Surveys: Data is collected by a group of random individuals and then analyzed to come up with a result.

• Focus groups: the sessions have some series of questions that the individuals have to answer and according to that the analysis is done.

49 customers responded to the survey and 26 totally satisfied 18 somewhat satisfied, 4 dissatisfied and 1 totally dissatisfied Industry benchmarks show that the average number of customers who indicate that they are totally satisfied is 42%. Ease of doing business with Oz house Clean is 47%. Customers who said they would use Oz house Clean Services again is 72%. Customers who indicate that they would recommend the company to others are 63%.

Other comments made in response to question inviting customer suggestions: 

• Cleaning staff great, but phone service a bit average 

•  Customer service staff could do with a bit more knowledge about products sold by the company, good on services knowledge but not on products 

•  Optional extras such as ironing would be great as an add-on service.

The recommendations I give to the team are as follows:

• Improve the service of attending and resolving the client’s queries, complaints or the information needed.

• Train the staff as they still after six months are lacking in delivering the performance. 

• The focus of the training should be on both the products and the services provided. 

• The business would be profited by adding some add on services in the delivery of the services. 

5. Email

To the Customer service team,

This email is to give an outline of the Customer Survey report.  Kindly read the contents and attached files of the briefing report in this mail. Please find the attachment below. There is some recommendation for the business after analyzing the process until six months and still seeing the satisfaction at 42%. 49 customers responded to the survey and 26 totally satisfied 18 somewhat satisfied, 4 dissatisfied.

The recommendations I give to the team are as follows:

• Improve the service of attending and resolving the client’s queries, complaints or the information needed.

• Train the staff as they still after six months are lacking in delivering the performance. 

• The focus of the training should be on both the products and the services provided. 

• The business would be profited by adding some add on services in the delivery of the services. 

Thank you for taking out time and read this.

Best regards.
Operational Manager

References:

Anon, (2019). Retrieved from: 

Accc.gov.au. (2019). Advertising and selling guide | ACCC. Retrieved from: https://www.accc.gov.au/accc-book/printer-friendly/29527 

Business.gov.au. (2019). Support for businesses in Australia. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.business.gov.au/ 

Chen, R. J. (2015). From sustainability to customer loyalty: A case of full service hotels’ guests. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, 261-265.

CMG. (2019). What is Customer Analysis? | CMG Partners. Retrieved from: https://cmgpartners.com/blog/what-is-customer-analysis/ 

Daugherty, P. J., Bolumole, Y., & Grawe, S. J. (2019). The new age of customer impatience: an agenda for reawakening logistics customer service research. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 49(1), 4-32.

Holtom, B. C., & Burch, T. C. (2016). A model of turnover-based disruption in customer services. Human Resource Management Review, 26(1), 25-36.