Literature Review
Customer service is an essential part of business strategy (Sahaf 2008). Any company that ignores the quality of services that it gives to its customers commits a strategic blunder. This literature review explores the conceptual issues that govern the provision of excellent customer service. The review has four sections. The first section deals with the definition of customer service.
The use of the term “customer service” requires delineation to ensure that there is not confusion with other aspects of customer care in the business. It is also imperative to develop a working definition of the term for this project. The second part of the review covers service quality in general and online service quality. The expected outcome of this project will be the development of a website that can improve customer service for Igno Merchandise Company.
In this regard, the standards for online service quality in the company must satisfy user expectations. The last three areas of interest include a review of the online tools available for online customer service applications, web design principles for customer service websites, and the risks posed by online customer service.
Definition of Customer Service
The term “customer service” does not have a universal definition despite the widespread use by both entrepreneurs and scholars. This is hardly surprising because of the multiplicity of viewpoints relating to the subject. Wagenheim and Reurink (1991) defined customer service as a management strategy that focused on meeting customer expectations.
This definition relied on the idea that every organisation would do whatever it took to satisfy its customers in order to attain its goals efficiently and effectively. However, it was very broad since it covered all activities undertaken by a business. For instance, R&D departments exist to produce products that satisfy customer expectations. Does this mean that R&D activities form part of customer service? This definition fits better where there is contact with customers.
In this case, it is useful as a means of setting customer service objectives. Armistead (1989) developed a more elaborate definition of customer service that had six dimensions grouped into two. The first group constituted the “firm” dimensions, which included, “the framework of time, fault-freeness, and flexibility” (Armistead 1989, p. 249). The framework of time referred to the duration, availability, and speed of customer service.
In other words, good customer service should be available on demand, for the required duration, and should be offered as quickly as possible. The framework of fault-freeness sought to capture the need to have services that were error free (Armistead 1989). The range of issues captured in this dimension included the information, processes, and products that constituted customer service in an organisation.
All organisations need to take utmost care to ensure that the services developed for the benefit of their clients are error free. The framework of flexibility sought to address the need for a company to remain adaptable to new situations (Armistead 1989). For instance, a company should have the ability to customise customer services in order to ensure that the solutions provided to each client resolve their specific concerns.
This framework also addressed the need for the company to keep on improving customer services. Continuous improvement is a well-known concept in lean production (Creswell 2008). The second group of frameworks developed by Armistead (1989) was the soft dimensions. These dimensions were more difficult to control and measure. The three frameworks were “style, steering, and safety” (Armistead 1989, p. 249).
Style referred to the elements of organisational culture in customer service, and the mode of presentation of services. This dimension has two implications. First, it means that the style in which an organisation offers customer services is a product of its organisational culture (Wei & Lu 2012). If an organisation esteems punctuality in all its activities, then customer service from the organisation should demonstrate punctuality without any further need for enforcement.
The second implication of this framework is that every organisation needs to think about how it offers services to its customers. This includes the attitudes of the customer care staff towards customers, the ambience, and the ease of access to its premises (Ardichvili, Cardozo & Ray 2003). In other words, organisations need to think about customer experience in their customer service initiatives (Cardoso 2009).
The second framework in Armistead’s second category was “steering” (Armistead 1989, p. 249). Steering was the word chosen to represent the sense of control a customer needed to feel when accessing services in an organisation. It also meant that the customer needed clarity about the procedures and processes needed to access services in the company. The third framework was safety.
Safety in customer service refers to the level of physical and psychological comfort that a customer feels when dealing with a company (Yang, Jun & Peterson 2004). The specific issues outlined in this framework included observing confidentiality and maintaining trust. It also involves assuring customers of their physical safety whenever they interact with the organisation.
The definition of customer service offered by Lucas, Bush and Gresham (1996) viewed customer service as the impact of salespeople, business atmosphere, and quality of services on the customers. This definition had a wide area of overlap with Armistead’s definition in regards to the essential components of customer service. The two definitions agreed that customer service was not a single aspect in the activities of the organisation.
The authors viewed customer service as an organisational process, rather than a specific activity. Donaldson (1986) used a different approach to define customer service by proposing that customer service was the fifth element that organisations needed to add to the four Ps of marketing. This view sought to make customer service one of the fundamentals of good business practices necessary for running a successful enterprise.
This literature review shows that the definition of customer service depends on the overall organisational philosophy of a company. The important issue in regards to the definition of customer care is not the accuracy of the term. An organisation should ascribe a meaning to it based on its overall organisational philosophy. The common thread in the definitions reviewed is that a company needs to organise itself in such a way that it can offer the services its customers require as effectively as possible.
Service Quality and Online Service Quality
Service is intangible, is consumed simultaneously, and cannot be displayed in stock. The process of customer care consists of several mediating activities between the customer and the company (Agyapong & Kobina 2012). One of the major challenges that organisations are facing today is an increase in customer expectations in regards to quality of service (Ekankumo, Kemebaradikumo & Braye 2011).
In a study on customer service, 96% of the respondents said that they buy services from companies that have high quality customer services, regardless of pricing (Ekankumo, Kemebaradikumo & Braye 2011). Many businesses are finding it extremely difficult to manage competition arising from differences in service quality. This shows that service quality can determine the competitive advantage of a business in a given industry (Wagenheim & Reurink 1991).
In a study, GSM subscribers in Lagos State stated that they were more likely to choose a service provider based on the quality of services offered without regard to the pricing of the service (Adeleke & Aminu 2012). Service quality is very important to service-oriented organisations. Companies that produce services such as banks or telecommunications companies view their services as the products of the company. In these cases, poor services are equivalent to poor products.
In product-oriented organisations, customer service is offered to support the consumer when using the product after buying it from the company (Ekankumo, Kemebaradikumo & Braye 2011). For instance, an automaker may operate customer service outlets that provide services to the owners of vehicles bought from the company.
A study by Yang, Jun and Peterson (2004) concluded that the six main aspects of service quality in the internet are reliability, responsiveness, competence, ease of use, security, and product portfolio. These six elements can guide the assessment and development of an online customer service strategy. Online service quality is the specialised case of services offered through the internet (Cruz & Mendelsohn 2010).
Companies that offer their services through the internet use facilities such as emails, electronic newsletters, or chat to help solve customer problems (Curasi, Hogg & Maclaran 2001). It is also possible to offer voice based customer service using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) which is accessible through services such as Skype. In the case of companies that sell products through the internet, customer service covers all the activities that the sale process constitutes.
This distinction also applies to companies that sell services that are delivered online on subscription basis, such as subscription websites. From the literature reviewed, it is clear that for this project to be successful, the quality of services offered must be acceptable to the customer. A decision must be made on whether the services will cover customer support and education, or whether the services will be intended for marketing only. A decision is also needed in regards to whether the services will be free.
Tools for Online Customer Service
The internet has made it possible for organisations to deploy several tools to serve customers online. No issue arises when a company uses these tools to drive sales or to manage existing customers. One of the most interesting aspects of online customer service is the ability to prepare materials that can help to resolve customer complaints without the need for human intervention (Dalal 2007).
Many organisations have a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) page on their website as the first line of customer care. This page usually carries information that many customers seek frequently. The FAQ page can be very helpful to customers who are trying to know how to use a product (Cardoso 2009). Text based customer support systems include the use of chat and email (Dalal 2007).
Chat allows for instantaneous response to customer queries. Chat is ideal for use in situations where a customer needs instructions to operate the product. Chat is also ideal for dealing with queries from customers because the responses given to such customers can help to speed up the buying decision. Emails also play an important role in customer support especially in cases where it is necessary to give many details (Donaldson 1986).
Emails work in cases where the clients are patient to wait for a response. The use of emails can lead to a reduction in service quality if the response time is poor. In some cases, companies use email as a means of providing training for potential clients. In these cases, the company can set up automatic responders that send targeted emails to their clients.
This method enables companies to build their brands by increasing the amount of contact they have with customers. At the same time, it is a very good way of passing on large volumes of information in small doses. Some companies operate call centers as part of their online customer service portfolio (Davila, Marc & Robert 2007). A new way of providing customer support is by use of videos.
Many organisations today have uploaded videos that customers can watch to learn how to use their products. By their nature, videos are static and can only resolve well-known problems. Once a company finds out that there is a widespread problem affecting their customers, the company can develop a presentation to be uploaded as a video so that all customers can watch it to find answers to their concerns.
Videos are effective for introducing the product to the consumers, and for giving instructions on how to operate the product. Leading video sites in the world include YouTube and Vimeo, which are free services. Another tool for customer service especially in companies that sell products online is the presence of an online shopping cart (Ardichvili, Cardozo & Ray 2003).
Shopping carts are indispensible if a company wants to sell products online, and to make the transactions as convenient as possible for its customers. An interesting method of online customer service is the use of online forums composed of clients of the company. Companies such as Microsoft and Google have facilitated the growth of online communities that depend on their products.
These communities allow customers of these companies to discuss among themselves the issues that arise when they use the products of the company. The advantage of this approach is that customers raise the problems and the solutions provided are communicated in ways that customers understand. In addition, the company incurs minimal costs because the content comes from the customers themselves.
In conclusion, there is a wide choice of avenues for providing online customer support that includes a FAQ page on the company’s website, chat, email, Skype, or video.
Web-design Principles for Customer Service Websites
The Igno merchandise company operates within Nigeria. Therefore, there is a need to explore some of the web design principles that can inform the final website developed for customer service. Several aspects should inform the design of a website meant to provide services to customers. The most prominent design issue is the choice of a domain name (Cruz & Mendelsohn 2010).
The domain name of a website plays an important role in generating traffic for a website. Websites that have domain names that are easy to remember receive more traffic than those with difficult domain names. Good domain names can help companies that are online to increase the recognition of their brand. The choice of a domain name is therefore a matter that requires careful thought because of the strategic implications it will have on the traffic to the website.
Access to the internet in Nigeria is mainly via mobile handsets (Agyapong & Kobina 2012). The number of Nigerians who have mobile handsets that can access the internet is on the increase. This means that the company needs to ensure that the website developed for customer service is mobile friendly. In this sense, the companies need to develop mobile friendly websites.
In many cases, it is usually necessary to develop two websites, one meant for mobile phones, and the other meant for general traffic. This makes it necessary to develop a system of integrating service on both websites in order to ensure that customers have seamless surfing experiences whenever they switch from the mobile version of the website to the general website.
The factors that contribute to user satisfaction with a website include ease of navigation, quick loading of pages, pleasant design qualities, and consistent display across various browsers (Yazdanifard, Edres & Seyedi 2011). The importance of ease of navigation increases with the use of mobile phones to access the internet. However, even websites meant for use by PCs should have a logically developed menu that allows customers to find any information that they need as quickly and as easily as possible.
This situation is more serious when it comes to mobile web because the screens of mobile phones have a very small viewing are compared to computers. At the same time, the navigations tools available to users are not as versatile as those found on computers. In this sense, poorly designed sites can erode the quality of user experience when it comes to mobile web access.
The speed of loading of a website is a critical aspect in Nigeria because internet speeds are relatively low (Agyapong & Kobina 2012). The design of the website needs to have features that allow for quick loading under low speeds. Many customers leave websites that are slow. Customers expect that the mobile version of websites should load as quickly as the PC version of the same website.
The final issue that requires consideration in web design is display of the site across different browsers. Internet browsers can display a website differently leading to different user experiences. Therefore, the developers of the customer service website will need to check how the site appears on different. The most common browsers used by many people include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera.
Risks Associated with Electronic Customer Service
Several risks arise when a company chooses to use the internet for customer service applications. Exposure to these risks affects both companies that offer services using the internet and their clients. The main client side risk associated with ecommerce is privacy. A study in the US showed that up to 63% of customers hesitate to give their details to websites because of the privacy and security concerns (Yazdanifard, Edres & Seyedi 2011).
While most of the information that people put on online has always been publicly available, it has not been easily accessible without the internet (Wei & Lu 2012). Furthermore, it is possible to do more damage with it because of the capabilities of the internet. Cases of identity theft are on the rise because it is possible to construct a person’s personal profile based on information available online.
For instance, someone can call company and request for services based on information found in social media websites. Another contributor to the online risks is that there are few legal guarantees that can redress online crimes (Yazdanifard, Edres & Seyedi 2011). Nigeria holds a bad reputation in regards to internet fraud committed against citizens in other countries of the world.
It is usually impossible to track down the perpetrators or to hold them accountable if they are not living in the same jurisdiction. This makes criminals and fraudsters confident that they can get away with internet crimes. The third client side risk associated with online customer care is that at times, it is impossible to prove making contact with the company if the client uses chat.
In cases where the client makes a voice call, there may be no record of the details of the conversation. This makes it difficult for customer to keep track of the progress of the process of addressing concerns communicated with a company. Organisations that provide online services face reputational risks. Source of reputational risk are varied. It can arise from hacking, where hackers deface the website (Cardoso 2009).
While customers can forgive the company of its website falls into the hands of hackers, it reduces the confidence the clients have in the company in regards to its ability to keep their information safe. Reputational risks can also arise from online fraudsters that claim to work for the company, but whose real intention is to defraud unsuspecting clients (Curasi, Hogg & Maclaran 2001).
A client may not have a foolproof way of telling whether someone is a genuine employee of the company especially if that person seems to have access to privileged information. If the fraudster is successful, the company loses the confidence of the client. Reputational risk may also arise from poor services, such as delayed responses to client queries posted online.
This risk increases because of the increased accessibility of a website to a global audience, compared to the limited number of walk-in clients for a company without online presence. In this case, the company’s customer service unit may be overwhelmed by demand for explanations. This can arise if there is a widespread problem, or if the company is implementing changes that affect its relations with its customers.
Conclusion
The main issues that arise from the literature review above are as follows. First, it is almost impossible to arrive at a universal definition of customer service because of differences in the philosophical approaches to the issue. In this regard, there is a need to arrive at a definition that will meet the purposes of this project. Armistead’s definition provides a very useful framework for the development of the required definition.
The second issue arising from the literature review is that online customer service requires the same dedication to quality found in other aspects of customer service. Internet is a tool available for use in providing services to customers and it should be used wisely. Thirdly, the main tools available for use in online customer service include the use of FAQ pages, Chat, Voice calls, Online shopping carts, and Online forums.
All these services can be offered through a company’s website. There is need to consider how each of these tools can be used by the Igno company to meet is its online customer service objectives. Finally, the company will need to make use of good web design principles to design its customer service website.
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