Project summary
The project to be undertaken is a one-day seminar on customer service. The project is to be conducted in Hotel Sheraton, New York. This project is a seminar that is conducted in order to clearly educate the required persons, the need for giving prime importance to customer service. The major group to whom the project is intended is the executives and employees of Bank of America who deal with the customers.
Concerned organization
The one-day seminar regarding customer service is being carried on in Hotel Sheraton, New York. Bank of America is regarded as the largest commercial bank in the country. “Bank of America (BoA) is a US-based global financial services company with assets of $1,715.7 billion at the end of 2007.” (Premium company profile, 2008). The bank is widespread over the country and also has its presence in many countries across the world.
Even though the bank is the largest commercial bank in the US it faces stiff competition from other major players. The major competitors for the Bank are Citigroup, Wachovia, and Wells Fargo. When the competition is higher from the rivals the bank needs to be more customer-oriented in order to retain the market position. Therefore the bank identified that better customer service is the primary tool for satisfying the existing as well as the prospective customers.
Scope of the project
Scope of the project refers to the activities to be accomplished in order to achieve the objectives of the project. So the scope of the current project is educating the participants regarding the new project. Better customer service is a matter of the survival of a company. Unless and until the customers are satisfied with the products of a producer he will not purchase it again. ‘Customer is the king’ is a very relevant concept in the success of all the companies.
Therefore it can be understood that the scope of this project is very wide. The project considers the matters relating to satisfying the customers. The internal factors in the bank are the major consideration in the Bank. The core examination of the different internal factors such as the behavior of the employees and the speed of service delivery is considered. The project will cover wide areas relating to customer service and customer satisfaction.
Name of the project
The name of the project is “Customer service – an essential tool for organizational efficiency.” The name of the project itself conveys the theme of the seminar. The theme or purpose of the seminar is to inform the concerned persons that customer service is the best tool for achieving success. As such this is the most suitable name for the project.
The project sponsor and project proposer
The sponsor of this project is Bank of America. Bank of America realized the importance of giving a very keen focus on the satisfaction of customers. The bank understood that in order to survive in the competitive environment the Bank will have to further improve the quality of services rendered to the customers. Therefore it is the bank that funds the whole project. The proposer of the project is one who proposes or puts forward the idea of implementing a project. Here the project idea is generated from the marketing team of the Bank. It is the marketing team of the bank that identified the need for such a program within the organization. The marketing team proposed the idea of the project to the top management of the bank on the basis of their findings of the changing market environment.
Project objective
The objective of the project to be carried on in New York is as follows:
- To learn the further expectations of the customers from banks so that the bank can design its strategy on the basis of their expectations.
- To educate the executives of different branches of the bank regarding the importance of giving very high importance to the customer needs. When the executives are informed about the importance of doing so they will motivate the employees of their concerned branch to provide faster and better services to the customers.
Project deliverables
A project deliverable may be defined as a product of service that gains improvement as a result of the project. In the proposed project of Bank of America, the deliverable is the services of the Bank. The Bank intends to make improvements in the services provided to the customers. The products of the bank are also a deliverable. After the successful completion of the project, the bank intends to make sufficient improvements in its products so that the needs of the customers are satisfied.
Estimate of cost
An estimate of the cost of implantation of the project is as follows:
Major milestones
The milestones of a project refer to the activities that the project has already undergone or the process through which the project is moving at present. It also refers to the process through which the project has to move in order to reach the end. Here the project has already completed the planning stage. A project proposal is being prepared when the top-level management accepted the project idea. The other processes to be carried on are printing of the invitation and other documents, selecting the required candidates from every branch, inviting experts from the industry and management schools, selecting a group of customers, and preparing the program schedule.
Technical requirements for the standard of performance
The technical requirements for a better standard of performance are the projectors and other technical aids that are used for conducting the seminar properly.
Limits of the project
The major limitation is that the project is a seminar of only one day which in the real sense is not at all enough for interacting on a topic like a customer service. It is not necessary that the employees should attend the seminar properly.
Stakeholders of the project
The sponsor of the project is Bank of America. The project manager is an expert in the field of project management from the Head Quarters of Bank of America. The team constitutes the marketing experts of the Bank. The customers are the combination of selected existing customers from every branch of the bank and another group of prospective customers. Along with all these persons, the experts from well-known Universities and Banking industry is also a stakeholder.
Management of the project (controlling and reporting)
The person in charge of the whole project has assigned different persons for carrying on the sub-functions in the project. They will report timely to the project head regarding the developments in their assigned functions.
Reviewing the project with the consumer
In this step, the project idea is being discussed with the customers from all the branches, and those customers who are able to give better suggestions are being selected for the seminar.
Resources required
The human resources that are used for the project are the experts of project management and experts in the areas of customer service. The other resources include computers, projectors, and stationeries used for the seminar.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A proper Work Breakdown is done so as to split the project into smaller parts. “A complex project is made manageable by first breaking it down into individual components in a hierarchical structure, known as work breakdown structure, or the WBS.” (Work breakdown structure, 2000-2007). This will enable the proper functioning of every activity in a project. Here the main project is divided into two subparts. The first part will deal with the technical aspects such as the matters relating to the objective of the project. The second part will deal with the non-technical activity such as arranging the hall and other miscellaneous activities. The work breakdown structure of the project is given below.
Bibliography
Premium company profile: Bank of America Corporation. (2008). Introduction. Bharat Book Bureau. Web.
Work breakdown structure. (2000-2007). Operations. NetMBA. Web.