CUSTOMER NEEDS

Determining Customer Service Needs

Determining Customer Service Needs

Introduction

For ensuring the success of a business, a company needs to ensure that it provides satisfactory customer services to retain its customers and maintain a strong customer base. For a customer to be happy, the business needs to make sure that it makes its customer happy in their first purchase so that they are brought back to make a purchase. This in turn makes the happy customer to be a repeat customer, proving to be profitable for the business. The following paper discusses how companies should deliver services to its customers to retain loyal customers and increase its profitability and what strategies may be applied to engage the customers in the development of the organization.

Discussion

Companies may describe customer satisfaction and alignment of their needs in many ways. The total experience a customer has with the company is much more important for the company as compared to their single interaction with the company. Research provides evidence against the fact customers who experience best service when purchasing a product proved to be more satisfied and loyal (Ward, n.d). This has led to marketers being careful about aligning the needs of the customers with the marketing strategies. According to a Harvard Business School Review, the research showed that customer satisfaction is directly proportional to the financial success of the company where high customer satisfaction produces high returns and increased cash flows for the company (Ward, n.d).

For Australian customers, customer satisfaction is a vital aspect. Research indicates that Australian customers are willing to pay more to be more satisfied. They consider value in services provided. However, many consumers in the region have a belief that the companies today pay less attention to customer services and customer satisfaction as compared to other countries and they claim that Australian companies do not care about their customers or their business (Weatherill, n.d). These customers are open in narrating about their bad experiences. Looking at this changing situation, Australian companies today are making efforts to bring satisfaction to its customers.

Fundamental elements of customer service

Identification and Understanding of Customers

Direct feedback is important to be attained from the customers about their wants, needs and expectations. This shall help in gaining insight about the priorities of the customers and what they want from the customers (Jantti, 2006). This helps in identifying reasonable improvement areas.

Building a Customer Service Strategy

The mission and vision of the company must be customer-focused. A successful vision is one which defines the company's objectives under the head of the perspectives of the customer. An Action plan is developed with SMART and realistic goals then plans are implemented and results measured.

Recruitment of the Right People

Companies today in Australia make sure that they hire only those employees who are capable enough of understanding customer needs and treating them with respect (Jain, 2009).

Development of Standards

This involves documenting the fact that the company is customer-centered and seeks to fulfill their needs by providing them with quality ...