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Course: MKTG 114
Customer Service
Fundamentals

Assignment
Case Study

Questions
1) What customer satisfaction problems do you see in the case?
2) How do the concepts of customer value and equity come into play in the case?
3) If you were in charge of Unique Furniture and learned of Frank’s story, what steps
would you take?

Question 1
In this case the customers have a legitimate complaint because they were not satisfied
with the service and the products offered and delivered during and after the purchasing of
the chair
...

 Unkempt promises of delivery by Angela the CSR
...

 Conflicting messages from employees – after the sales agent told them that the
chair was the last one in stock, the warehouse manager called them to confirm the
colour of the chair they purchased
...
He did not assist in removing and carrying the chair into the house
...

 There was no handy man available to assist the driver in deliveries
...

 Defected item purchased – the customer received the chair with Stained fabric
 Feeling of being dismissed or discounted by personnel – on receiving the
damaged product the customer called the store
...
to respond and answer the call there was a
possibility of too many incoming calls and too few agents to answer these call and
not replying promptly to customer‘s complaint
...
The complaint
department service agent kept interrupting the customer during his complaint
...
She forgot the golden rule “customers are always right even if
they are not”
...









When she said “you poor thing” she was being sympathetic and not exercising
empathy
...
In summary there is a long red tape to solutions
...
This is too long for a complaint to be dealt with
...

Lastly it was all inflexible and poor service

Question 2
Customer value and equity is the expectations of a customer of what they want or think
they deserve from a product or service as all other customers to receive goods or service
in either through value or quantity equally it is about having their perceptions reaching
their expectations
...
In this
case, the purchasing of the chair as well as the delivery was chaotic
...
Customers want quality products, value for their purchase and most
importantly acknowledging their importance as a customer
...
These customers felt as though they didn’t receive
value for their money and as such were overlooked as though their purchase were not
important
...
To find out what kind
of value you produce, you need to figure out what type of needs are satisfied now by your
organization
...

Connected to the concept of customer value is the concept of empowerment
...
Customer value alone is composed of different types of value-power
arrangements that fall in the realm of the emotional, the informational, and the economic
among others
...
For instance, if you
ask Customer Service Representative to do more work, that empowers the customer but
you need to pay your Customer Service Representative appropriately for them to impart
that value to your customers
...

In this case it is the value of the product to the couple and the very fact that they paid in
cash and the level of service that they received on purchasing and receiving the item
...
The customer felt as though the value of the product and the
price they paid was unimportant to the employees at Unique Furniture
...

Customer equity is treating all customers equally and fairly
In this case the company exercises equity as state in paragraph 32 , line2 “ it takes five
working days for a service call once a compliant call is made “
However the policies for practicing equity to their customers was only probably designed
to match the needs of the company and not that of the customers
...


Lastly the company should review their policies and bear in mind that it is the customer
that make and brings business to Unique Furniture
...


Question 3
Firstly, I believe that Mr
...
Holloway deserve an apology letter for such a horrific
incident and experiences they received and the inconvenience caused by Unique
Furniture
...

 that all the necessary information about good customer service is available and
understood by having regular meeting to check and ensure that employees are
performing until the entire organization is inclined with the culture and are
obsessed to what the customer wants
...
I will
also explain the employees of the importance of customer service to the
organization and by extension the benefits to the him/ her
...

 All new employees entering the company must be trained in the culture of
excellent customer service and continuing wheeling it until they accept and
understand
...
Always ensure that CSRs have a warm positive attitude, caring,
responsive and efficient behaiviour towards work
...
Always highlight to employees to strive to
improve their overall service by focusing on the small detail of each transaction
...
I would also highlight how to use empathy and team skills in dealing
with customers especially in challenging circumstances
...
I will also follow up and ensure
that employees are recognized and appreciated when thing are done right
...
As the manager I can also establish policies
that are customer service friendly and that show concern for customer value and equity
that can possibly remove negativity and allow customer service representative to be
flexible while working along company’s policies
...


I n summary teach employees to
 Listen
 Apologize when necessary
 Fix the problem quickly
 Make realistic and achievable promises that you can fulfill and honor
 Thank the customers
 Offer some form of compensation when needed
 Follow up customers for feed back but be friendly and approachable
 Have a clearly-defined customer service policy
 Anticipate Your Client's Needs & Go Out Of Your Way to Help Them Out

Conclusion
Customer service, like any aspect of business, is a practiced art that takes time and effort
to master
...

What would you want from your business if you were the client? How would you want to
be treated? Treat your customers like your friends and they'll always come back

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