00004-01-02 customer driven organisation
DESCRIPTION
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00004
Fundamental Concepts
Customer Driven Organisation
Developed by:
Stephen P. D’Alessandro
M.A. (Mrktg), B.A. (Hons.) Bus. Mang, FIM, MCIM, TEP, MIOD
Clive Scerri
B.Com. (Hons.), MIM, MAWOP
This module has been level-rated at MQF Level 5 by the Malta Qualifications Council according to the
European Credit System for Vocational Education & Training - ECVET.
00004
Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• A customer-driven organisation is one which
continually focuses on its whole business from its
end result, i.e. from the customer's point of view
• Maintaining the momentum of a customer care
programme calls for a co-ordinated company
wide effort, based on DEDICATED:
• Determination
• Everyone must be determined to reach the
same goal of improved quality service
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Determination (cont.)
• It is far too easy to start off enthusiastically
expecting all rules and regulations, systems
and procedures to change overnight to meet
the need for performance improvement
• Yet, the reality of the matter is that changing
systems is easy, the hard part is changing the
behaviour and expectations of the people in
the system
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Determination (cont.)
• Do not go for quick fix solutions. These don’t
last very long and the results can be more
frustrating in the long run
• Aim for gradual improvements through
consensus
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Evaluation
• The programme must be constantly evaluated
based on thorough and constant
measurement of changing customer
expectations
• It is not enough to hope that standards will
improve if everybody tries hard enough
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Evaluation (cont.)
• To implement an effective customer care
programme systems of measurement are
essential
• How can we measure customer
satisfaction?
• How many customers can be seen to in a
shift?
• How long does it take for services to reach
customers at home?
• What are the standards of waiting time at
different times of the day or night?
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Details
• Seeing to all the minute details
• Nothing is too insignificant to be overlooked
• The challenge of meeting and exceeding
customer expectations comes to bear in the
manner we use little details to show
customers that we care
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Details (cont.)
• Make the effort to use their name once they
have presented their personal details
• Addressing the person as Mr. or Mrs., and
the surname shows that we respect them
as the customers and that we are aware of
their needs
• The difference between a mediocre service
and an excellent service is often found in the
details of the service
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Involvement
• Everyone must be involved in the effort.
• There is need for the setting of common
objectives for all personnel involved in the
different departments in an organisation to
ensure that all give priority to the customers’
requirements
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Involvement (cont.)
• If the experience at each department is to be
improved from the customer’s point of view
then the whole service package must be
continually reviewed and improvements made
to the package of services provided
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Customers
• “The Customer is the King.”
• This calls for respect and courtesy by all staff
when dealing with customers
• No matter how fed up staff may be with a
particular situation, no matter how many
difficult customers get, staff cannot take it out
on the customer
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Customers (cont.)
• They must show respect, especially when
customers do not act respectfully
• Dropping their standards to meet the lowest
levels of behaviour which they might come
across is certainly not going to help improve
overall standards of performance
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Achievements
• Achievements should not only be recognised
by management but should also be celebrated
• It is management’s responsibility to seek out
examples of first class service to customers,
and to acknowledge such efforts
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Achievements (cont.)
• The best motivator is example
• If we want others to look after customers
better, then we must first look after them
better, only then can we expect others to take
note of what we are saying
• Staff care is an essential pre-requisite for
customer care!
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Teamwork
• Team-building to deliver solutions and not to
meet internal procedures
• There is an urgent need to break down the
barriers between staff at different levels and
staff in different departments or units within an
organisation
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Teamwork (cont.)
• At the end of the day the overall service to the
customer depends on the contribution of each
person in the team
• Teamwork is all about sharing the same
objectives, in this case the determination to
excel and set a standard of service which will
impress the customer
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Education
• Success depends not only on the training and
education of management and staff, but also
of the customer
• Managing customer expectations depends on
the level of information or knowledge that
customers have about the products or
services that they seek from the company
• Marketers need to devote resources to assist
customers in educating themselves further in
the subject matter concerned
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Deadlines
• These must be based on benchmarks and
objectives set at the start
• Effective customer care is not about chance, it
is about co-ordinated efforts to reach
predetermined standards of performance
within given time limits
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Deadlines (cont.)
• Without setting time frames the whole
exercise tends to get lost in routine
• There needs to be an urgency to improve
• Deadlines are often the most effective check
on the implementation of new systems
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• All customers should be treated to the best
service possible, and that includes the internal
customers
• Each department within an organisation is but
one link in the service chain to the company's
customer groups
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• An open communications system is probably the
single most important aspect of developing a
company-wide customer care orientation
• This refers to the need for every member of
staff to be able to provide input to the
workings of the organisation, and receive
feedback
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Defining the Customer-Driven Organisation
• Management must make sure that the right
information is given to the right people
• There is therefore a need for regular, formal
and informal meetings, on-line and written
communications, bulletin boards, in-house
newsletters, etc.
• These need to be integrated to ensure a
conformity of verbal and written communication
throughout the organisation