Customer Care &Fault ManagementUOW IACT418/918 Spring 2001Bob Brown

OverviewService success and customer satisfaction comes from the benefits that the enterprise is constantly able to provide to its customers, including design and features of its products and services, quality, service-courtesy, friendliness, having what the customer needs when needed and image. Value is real, and hard-won: it is not created by advertising campaigns or hype Hilmer (1989)

Customer NeedsService should be determined by customers wants & needs. Therefore, all enterprises must research and understand:Which products, services and service characteristics are important to the customerThe relative importance of these customer wantsThe level of performance on each product and service characteristic which will meet customer expectationsWithout a clear understanding of these, there will be a gap between customer expectations and the products/services delivered by the enterprise

Cost of service failureCosts much more than the loss of just one customerTechnical Assistance Research Program (TARP) (Clemmer 1992) results indicate that a dissatisfied customer tells 16 others, whereas a satisfied customer only tells 8 others!Clemmer 1992

The original customer who wont return1Potential customers lost because the original customer told them how dissatisfied they were16Potential customers NOT gained because the original customer didnt tell them how satisfied they were8Total customers lost from ONE unhappy customer25

Customer service gapsCompanyCustomerSource: Zeithaml (1996)

Gap 1: Customer & Company expectations of serviceSource: Zeithaml (1996)Expected servicePerceived serviceService deliveryCustomer-driven service designs and standardsCompany perceptions of Customer expectationsExternal communications to customersCompanyCustomerGap 1

Gap 1: Customer & Company expectations of serviceInadequate marketing research orientationInsufficient market researchResearch not focussed on service qualityInadequate use of market researchLack of upward communicationLack of interaction between management and customersInsufficient communication between contact employees and managersToo many layers between contact employees and upper managementInsufficient relationship focusLack of market segmentationFocus on transaction rather than relationshipsFocus on new customers rather than relationship customersSource: Zeithaml (1996)

Gap 2: Customer & Company standards of serviceSource: Zeithaml (1996)Expected servicePerceived serviceService deliveryCustomer-driven service designs and standardsCompany perceptions of Customer expectationsExternal communications to customersCompanyCustomerGap 2

Gap 2: Customer & Company standards of serviceAbsence of customer-driven standardsLack of customer driven service standardsAbsence of process management to focus on customer requirementsAbsence of formal process for setting service quality goalsInadequate leadershipPerception of infeasibilityInadequate management commitmentPoor service designUnsystematic new service development processVague undefined service designsFailure to connect service design to service positioningSource: Zeithaml (1996)

Gap 3: Customer standards & delivered serviceSource: Zeithaml (1996)Expected servicePerceived serviceService deliveryCustomer-driven service designs and standardsCompany perceptions of Customer expectationsExternal communications to customersCompanyCustomerGap 3

Gap 3: Customer standards & delivered serviceDeficiencies in human resource policiesIneffective recruitmentRole ambiguity and role conflictPoor employee / technology job fitInappropriate evaluation and compensation systemsLack of empowerment, perceived control & teamworkFailure to match supply and demandFailure to smooth peaks and valleys of demandInappropriate customer mixOver-reliance on price to smooth demandCustomers not fulfilling rolesCustomers lacking knowledge of their roles and responsibilitiesCustomers negatively impacting each otherSource: Zeithaml (1996)

Gap 4: Delivered and advertised serviceSource: Zeithaml (1996)Expected servicePerceived serviceService deliveryCustomer-driven service designs and standardsCompany perceptions of Customer expectationsExternal communications to customersCompanyCustomerGap 4

Gap 4: Delivered and advertised serviceIneffective management of customer expectationsFailure to manage customer expectations through all forms of communicationsFailure to educate customers adequatelyOverpromisingOverpromising in advertisingOverpromising in personal sellingOverpromising through physical evidence cuesInadequate horizontal communicationsInsufficient communications between sales & operationsInsufficient communications between advertising & operationsDifferences in policies and procedures across branches or unitsSource: Zeithaml (1996)

Gap 5: Expected and perceived serviceSource: Zeithaml (1996)Expected servicePerceived serviceService deliveryCustomer-driven service designs and standardsCompany perceptions of Customer expectationsExternal communications to customersCompanyCustomerGap 5

Gap 5: Expected and perceived serviceThe gap between the service which the customer expected and that perceived by the customer to have been delivered.This gap is directly attributable to, and results from any and all of the other four gaps.Addressing each of the other gaps (which the enterprise can control) will narrow the all-important service gap which is not itself directly within enterprise control.Source: Zeithaml (1996)

Service quality in telecomsIn telecommunications, there are four principal areas where customer satisfaction can be gained or lostFAULTS are a large factor in customer satisfaction!

Technical Performance Network response time Signal to noise ratio Call completion rate Fault clearance timeCustomer Interface Busy signal Wrong numbers Timed out before call completedService to the Customer Call answered promptly problems dealt with on first contactService Comparison Range of products Spread of network

Who are your customers?What is the product/service of a network?The Users of your network are your customersSometimes the Users are internal members of your organisation ie: STAFF & EMPLOYEES

Fault ManagementHelp deskSingle point of contact with usersStaff trained to contact help-desk for any problems with communications equipmentStandardised procedures & questionsTrouble ticketFor large organisationsAllows multiple operators to action the faultAutomated fault tracking systemsRegisters trouble-tickets in a databaseFault details can be made available to managers, help-desk staff, technicians and even users

Levels of supportLevel 1: Operator who takes the call can quickly resolve 80~85% of faultsLevel 2: technicians with higher skills/training can resolve 10~15% of faultsLevel 3: communications technical specialists or vendor specialists resolve the 5% most complex issues

Fault EscalationNetwork management plan must include procedures for escalating the status of a faultHow long has the fault remained unsolved?How critical is the fault?The more critical the fault, the faster it is escalatedPrinters can be down for a day or moreCritical servers shouldnt be down for more than a few minutes

Escalation procedures ITwo approachesDeploy additional technical resources to assist in finding resolutionAdvise users and management of the actions being undertaken to resolve the problem

Escalation procedures IIa generic technical approachLevel 1 (help-desk) pass to next level after 15 minutesLevel 2 (technician) after 1 hour, advise supervisor and continue workingLevel 3 (appropriate network specialist) called in after no solution in 4 hours. Level 2 still owns the fault and monitors progress keeping user & supervisor updated every 2 hours

Escalation procedures IIa generic managerial approachAfter 1 hour level 2 technician advises help desk supervisorAfter 2 hours help desk supervisor advises network operations supervisorAfter 4 hours network operations supervisor advises telecomms manager (who contacts manager of the users dept. to discuss any extraordinary actions)After 8 hours telecomms manager advises appropriate senior manager to discuss longer range plans & possible involvement of vendor management

ReferencesCarnegie, R. & Butlin, M. (1993) Managing the Innovating Enterprise, Business Council of Australia, MelbourneClemmer J. et al (1992) Firing on all Cylinders: revised edition, Piatkus, LondonHilmer, F.G. (1989) Work in Competitive Industries: New Games, New Rules, Angus & Robertson, SydneyRowe, S.H. (1999) Telecommunications for Managers 4th Ed., Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJZeithaml, V. (1996) Services Marketing, McGraw-Hill, New York