Customer Service Program Research Articles

Customer Service as a Strategic Weapon in International Operations

Customer service is an important competitive weapon in international markets becuase of its ability to acquire and retain overseas customers (especially intermediate firms) and, thus, enhance companies' revenues. Customer service is especially critical when foreign vendors are perceived as offering similar products at comparable prices, and purchasers have doubts about suppliers' willingness to carry out various post-purchase responsibilities. This paper reports the results of a study of the customer service programs of 151 U.S. non-service companies with international operations in five or more foreign countries. Sixty-nine firms responded to their customer service efforts in international markets and 81 addressed domestic customer service programs, allowing for comparisons to be made between international and domestic customer service operations. The study's results indicate that copmanies realize the importance of customer service in marketing to international customers, yet customer service for intern...

ICU for the ???90s THE ???INTENSIVE CUSTOMER UNIT???

Health care in the '90s is more complex and costly than ever before, and the healthcare consumer is knowledgeable and discriminating. Critical care nurses, who have always been responsive to technological change, must now be more responsive to consumer needs. This requires a change in mindset and a commitment to satisfying the "healthcare consumer". This article identifies nursing's customers, defines customer service and details a five-step plan for building an intensive customer unit. A successful customer service program in the intensive care unit leads to economic stability for both unit and institution, to humanistic integrity and to professional advancement for nurses.

Problems and Pitfalls of Customer Service Initiatives

Companies have increasingly undertaken customer service initiatives only to find their programmes beset with difficulties. Addresses the problems and pitfalls of initiating and sustaining a customer service programme. Provides practical advice on how to ensure that initiatives improve customer service in the long term.

Customer Service in Higher Education

In today's highly competitive world, higher education needs to look more closely at improving customer service on campus. As the consumers of education become more aware of their rights, they will be demanding the same service of educational institutions as they do commercial businesses. Higher education needs to investigate what busienss has been doing in the area of customer service and apply it in the education environment. This paper will explore the relationship between quality customer service and student retention, and will present a customer service model that could be used to initiate a comprehensive customer service program on campus.

Basic Training For Our Customer Service Program.

Basic Training For Our Customer Service Program.

Expanding the role of the direct marketing database

The direct marketing database of customers and prospects has from its inception been recognized as critical to the success of tactical activities such as promotional and customer service programs. This article argues that there are numerous other programmatic decisions that can be improved by analysis of the database. Further, it argues that the most effective use of a database extends beyond tactical exercises to strategic marketing decisions. A hierarchy is presented that can guide managers toward more powerful and more integrative uses of the database resource in planning and executing databased marketing activities at both the tactical and strategic levels.

The Quality Service Mission Statement: Developing a Superior International Customer Service Programme

Motivating workers is an important element in developing a quality culture in a business firm. This can only be achieved through a macro‐quality mission statement developed by upper, middle, and lower management and communicated throughout the organization. Discusses the “how to” of developing a quality service mission statement and presents the strategy for using it to improve a firm′s market position. Provides examples of a successful mission statement and analyses their formats.

Description of Florists' Cognitive Structure and Perceived Performance of Supplier Services through Second-order Factor Analysis

Retail florists' performance ratings of services provided by wholesale growers, wholesale florists, and grower-shippers/brokers were factor-analyzed to yield a hierarchical classification of customer service in floral distribution. Nine customer service factors were identified and three major independent classes of customer service were defined, including 1) physical distribution, 2) marketing, and 3) product quality services. Florists rated the performance of suppliers' physical distribution services higher than marketing and product quality services. Florists' perception of physical distribution and product quality services did not vary across type of supplier, but for marketing services, florists rated wholesale growers higher in performance than wholesale florists. The hierarchical classification of customer service and service performance profiles provide the floral industry with relevant market information for the successful development and effective implementation of customer service programs.

New reproductive techniques: a legal perspective

A follow-on from Quality: Total Customer Service, this book shows in greater detail how companies can, and must, implement customer service programmes, how to delight the customer and continually improve their service. Further examination of the ten companies covered in the first book and how they achieved their targets will be accompanied by case studies from other firms such as P & O Ferries, BR Intercity, Rumbelows and examples from the financial sector such as banks and insurance companies. Lynda King Taylor has also written Not For Bread Alone.

Auditing your customer service activities

Buyers are demanding a higher quality of customer service to accompany their purchases. Marketers, to remain competitive, must carefully analyze their customer service offerings to determine whether the services are truly meeting the needs of customers. A taxonomy of customer service is offered which will provide greater structure to an audit of a firm's customer service. The components of customer service which are analyzed in this article are: communications, uniformity of quality, simplicity, truthfulness/accuracy of information, objectives, monitoring the program, economics, and intradepartmental relations. Questions are posed which a manager could use to audit each component of a customer service program.