Tourism

Customer service is the new playground for competition for firms. Never before have the firms emphasized more to the creation of satisfied customers. In the era of post recession and slow economic growth firms need to hold onto their old customers while constantly looking to attract new ones. To understand how customer service helps in keeping hold of customers one just has to compare a good and bad customer service experience.

One of the best customer services experiences that I ever had was when I ordered fast food from the fast food restaurant, KFC. Initially on placing the order, the restaurant gives an estimated time limit to the customers in which their ordered food will be delivered at their doorsteps. The person who took the order seemed to be trained personnel and took the order carefully and gave an estimated time of thirty minutes for the fast food to be delivered. Waiting patiently for the first thirty minutes and then for another agonizing thirty minutes, the order didnt reach me yet. I called up the fast food restaurant and I angrily inquired about my order. To my surprise and shock, the operator replied in a friendly way that he had forgotten to forward the order to the system. Further inquiring angrily as to why have the operator had not forwarded the order, he truthfully answered that he had forgotten to do so. Waiting for more than an hour in vain, me and my friends decided to cancel the order and look at some other restaurant that can do a better and faster customer service. I was just about to slam the receiver down when the operator apologized and transferred the call to the customer service representative. Continuing my angry tirade about the situation, the customer representative stated that my compliant was completely justified and this should not have been expected from a restaurant of KFCs size. He pacified us and stated that their customers mean a great deal to the restaurant and they do not want to lose customers due to the fault of the operator. The customer service representative apologized for the delay and told us to wait 20 more minutes while he dispatches a complementary meal alongside our order. Finally in the next 20 minutes we got our order and turned a sour situation into an satisfied experience worth remembering.

One way to lose customers is to have customer services department that has no information of the event happening and they behave arrogantly. The worst customer experience that I had with customer services was with the local cable operator. The cable operator has a whole dedicated customer service department. The cable operator usually airs live football matches and some time when a customer calls and requests them they would put the match on. There was an important match happening and I had called up the customer service department and requested that the match be put on. The customer services representative casually asked me to watch something else this kind of remark was highly unwelcome and unprofessional of the representative. As I further informed as to why he would be saying that, he informed that the management has decided that customers requests for live matches would no longer be entertained as there are many other channels that the customers can view. This was highly illogical on the managements part as we are paying customers and we have the right to watch any channel we want rather than the management of the cable operator service decision.  The customer service representative went even further and said that if you dont like this decision the customers are free to have their cable disconnected. Such kind of responses from the customer service shows the unprofessional attitude of the company towards the customers and unwillingness of the company to satisfy the customers requests. What bothered me about this whole deal was the rudeness of the customer service and the uncaring behavior about long time customers.

Comparing these two experiences, there are many things that can be understood that the customer wants from the customers services. According to Ward (2009) in the article 8 Rules For Good Customer Service, she mentions that the responsibility of the customer service is to form a relationship between the customers and the company. The customers must be treated as lifeline for the company. The customers services help keep the customers from switching from company to company. The things that the customer expects from the customers services start from as little as responding to the customers phone call quickly. When this is done, the customers believe that his problem will be soon solved. The customer services representative should not give false hopes to the customer but also avoid being blunt. Listing to customers moan is a tedious job because a satisfied customer is better than an angry one. The representatives of the customer services should try to solve problems rather than avoid them and passing them forward. The thing the really pleases the customer is when the customer services representatives are knowledgeable, helpful and courteous.
In any situation with the customer services the customer should have rights and these rights are highlighted in the upset customer bill of rights.

THE UPSET CUSTOMER BILL of RIGHTS
1 .The customers have the right be taken seriously.
2 .The customers have the right to be respected.
3 .The customers have the right to proper information.
4 .The customers have the right to be given enough time.
5 .The customers have the right to be treated with courtesy
6 .The customers have the right have the right to ask questions when they do not understand the legal requirements or staff communications.
7 .The customers have the right to expect accurate and efficient record keeping on the part of the company.
8 .The customers have the right to timely services when seeking service in person, by phone or by writing.
9 .The customers have the right to receive services from knowledgeable, competent and cooperative staff.
10. The customers have the right to consistent and fair application of laws and rules.

    Customer service is an important part of any company that helps it to attract new customers and keep a hold on the old ones.  Companies should invest in customers services as their first priority should be customer satisfaction.