The main purpose of this report is to develop strategies, which will help to improve the overall quality of customer service in the company Abissnet. Hopefully, the ideas expressed in this paper may contribute to the effective functioning of this Internet-service provider. The suggestions are mostly based on scholarly works dedicated to the study of this field. Probably, the plan, developed in this proposal report, will become applicable to the needs of the company.
Statement of the Problem
Over the last two years the company Abissnet, which is considered to be one of the biggest internet service providers in the State of Alabama, has lost more than ten percent of its clients. The management ascribes this decline to the arrival of other firms, which specialize in the same field of activity. In addition to that, they state that the company is currently facing certain staffing problems, which subsequently fail to meet the customers demands. The survey, conducted among the purchasers of Abissnet products, has confirmed the hypothesis that the level of customers satisfaction has significantly dropped. This report aims to develop some policies, which will later alleviate the situation and probably return the clients confidence.
Analysis of the Problem
Before formulating certain strategies, it is of crucial importance for us to identify the major aspects of customer service. It is necessary to outline the functions, which this department performs. In his book Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective, Efraim Turban says that the customers service can be defined as activities, which are supposed to make the companys products more attractive to buyers (Turban, p 46). We may single out two stages of this process: pre-purchase and after-purchase measures. Overall, it seems that the company Abissnet does not pay due attention to after-purchase service, which subsequently makes its clients search for other Internet providers.
It is worth mentioning that for a certain period, Abissnet was practically the only internet provider in Alabama. Certainly, there were some other firms but they could not possibly compete with Abissnet, because it offered good discounts and a wide range of services. As a result, the company won the overwhelming majority of clients. Nonetheless, the state of affairs began to change approximately two years ago. As it has been noted before the number of purchasers increased, and the management could no longer cope with this inrush. Apart from that, there were some personnel issues, namely, the number of employees was insufficient for the needs of the company.
Naturally, one cannot deny that the customer service is seriously understaffed and this question must not be disregarded. Yet, we need to point out some other tendencies in the policies of the company, such as its attitude towards the clients. At the very beginning, they were declared to be the main priority of the Cabinet, and the management tried to find every possible way to live up to the expectations of the buyers. With the time passing, the course, adopted by the firm, took a rather unexpected turn: it no longer attached primary importance to the needs and demands of the customers (Deng, p 53).
Certainly, such policy was not proclaimed officially, but the workers of Abissnet assumed a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards purchasers of their products, and it subsequently lead to discontent among people. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the clients were only waiting for other Internet service providers to come onto the stage. As soon as it happened, Abissnet began to lose its customers, who had more options to choose from at that moment (Deng, p 54). Therefore, they could easily change to another provider. Initially, Abissnet management did not take it seriously but the situation soon became critical. The dynamics of this process can be illustrated graphically. It can be observed that the growth of Abissnet is directly proportional to the work of customer service in this company (See pictures 1 and 2). We may say that these two phenomena are closely intertwined.
On the whole, we need to say that such behavior is not unique; a great number of leading firms began to disregard the demands of the clients when they achieved a stable position in the market. In their opinion, their status could not be matched. This belief is based on a common misconception; in a competitive market, no company can vouch for its success with full certainty, thus, it is necessary to make every effort to attract and retain clients, the major constituent part of the success.
To propose recommendations to solve this problem, we should first discuss some theoretical aspects of customer service. According to Ron Zemke and John Woods, many companies have a rather distorted perception of this concept. The scholars argue that in fact, a person does not buy products; he or she buys benefits (Zemke et al, p 5). The authors single out the following types or categories of benefits (form, place, time, and possession). In this report, we should pay extra attention to such aspects as time and form.
Such category as time benefits means that the item, product, or service is available at any moment. The client can make use of it whenever he or she wants. This criterion seems to be the most important one because nowadays a person should have constant access to the Internet. In this regard, we have to admit that the functioning of Abissnet was almost impeccable for some time (approximately three years), but later the company could no longer boast of such impeccability. Frequent breakdowns and failures to fix them made clients look for other alternatives (Deng, p 54).
Another issue, which we cannot overlook, is the companys inability to respond to the customers demands. The support service that was supposed to work round the clock was often unavailable. The clients had to wait for the reply, only to be referred to another department, which was not very convenient to them. Additionally, sometimes, when they needed consultations or some practical tips, they simply could not communicate with some phone-call operators, because their proficiency in English was rather limited. Again, we should emphasize the importance of time, because presently even some small delays may give rise to unexpected difficulties. The question of language proficiency was just a token that Abissnet was not concerned with the well-being of the clients.
Moreover, we should mention that occasionally the attitude of the company’s employees toward customers was rather impolite. Especially, at those moments when there was plenty of phone calls. Partly, such behavior can be explained by the lack of adequate training, because, an operator must find an approach to a person and comfort him or her. The operator cannot always come up with a ready-made solution but at least he or she can comfort the client.
The lack of qualified employees certainly had rather detrimental effects on Abissnet and its revenue, but it seems that there is another side to this problem. The company tried to achieve the income-price ratio at the cost of its clients, such policy generated benefit for a while, but it was primarily oriented on short-time results. Eventually, it was bound to lead Abissnet to a deadlock, but it does not mean that this deadlock cannot be broken, because, there are certain measures, which can restore and even boost the popularity of the firm and make it more reliable. One should bear in mind that the methods to improve customer service do not always entail great expenses.
Thus, we can say that the problem, which Abissnet is facing now, has two dimensions: quantitative (the lack of competent employees) and qualitative (attitude towards the customers). Each of them should be addressed in a quick and most importantly effective manner otherwise the company can easily lose its leading position in the market; it can even be substituted by some other Internet-service providers. Unless Abissnet changes its policies, its former success will become be reduced to the minimum. In the next section, we are going to discuss possible ways to improve customer service.
Alternative Solutions
There are many approaches to customer service and possible ways to make it more efficient. As a rule, companies give preference to fast solutions but they work only for a short period, eventually, the problem reappears again. In the case of Abissnet, one can develop several strategies. Previously, we have mentioned that the company is understaffed, which gives rise to breakdowns, delays, and subsequently to clients dissatisfaction. At first glance, it may seem that the only possible panacea is to hire more competent employees. Certainly, we cannot deny that this approach has many advantages: one of the root causes of the firms failure to meet the demands of its customers is the lack of personnel. Nevertheless, such a strategy appears to be somewhat one-sided because it addresses only the quantitative side and here we have a more complex issue. If the attitude towards customers remains unchanged, we cannot speak of any improvement. Some qualitative amendments are badly needed, without them; every effort will become virtually useless.
Some people may suggest that close supervision or monitoring may help to overcome this obstacle. On the one hand, it has to be admitted that every employee will surely adhere to the companys customer policies if he or she knows that in case of violation, the contract will be terminated. This strategy may be rather efficient and bring some betterment, but again it should be taken into consideration that this betterment is only temporary. Such a method relies on compulsion or fear but not on persuasion (Gooderl, p 41). A person, who is forced to abide by the rules, is very likely to evade or even break them. Constant monitoring will also create rather a tense atmosphere in the workplace; people will always look suspiciously at one another.
One of the most widespread techniques is to offer monetary awards to the employees because financial compensation is probably the most powerful stimulus for a person to be more engaged with his or her work. It is impossible to deny that this treatment is extremely productive but it does not reflect all the complexity of the question, which we need to answer. The thing is that the management should also take a closer look at the structure of the organization. The clients often have to wait before they can talk to an employee, able to assist them. Perhaps, this chain should be shortened; clients must have immediate access to the maintenance engineer or a worker, who at least knows the cause of the breakup or any Internet malfunction.
In addition to that, the management may establish higher requirements for English language proficiency. People, who cannot meet certain standards, will simply not be viewed as candidates for the job. There is a tendency among many American companies to off-shore customer service, and it creates a great number of controversies, between employees and clients. This measure may seem rather prudent because there will be no linguistic barrier. But we should take into account that there are many talented people, especially from developing countries, who cannot speak fluent English, yet, very often leading companies turn a blind eye to this fact, because this work may contribute to the development of the organization in the long run.
In this section, we have summarized several strategies, which may improve customer service in the Abissnet, but taken separately, they are almost doomed to failure. A more complex approach should be adopted, it is necessary to bring both quantitative and qualitative changes. Besides, they should not rely on the whip and carrot policy.
Recommended Solution
As regards the quantitative aspect, it is impossible to deny that Abissnet should hire more qualified employees, such as maintenance engineers, technicians, consultants, etc. This will replenish the shortage of skilled personnel, but this is just the first step to be taken. At the second stage, the management should focus on the organization of this workforce. The customers should no longer wait until they can talk to a technician or some other expert. The whole procedure must be simplified; it must be made as convenient as possible, traditionally, it is labeled as user-friendly. The client should know that his request is not overlooked or postponed. The operators should be able to give a clear and concise explanation to the question, which users ask.
The main objective, which any Internet-service provider should set is to make the client feel that the company is genuinely involved with his or her needs. Perhaps, it is not always easy to know the cause of the breakup or low download speed. In such cases, the operator should at least reassure the client and tell them that the issue will be dealt with accordingly. In theory, the operator must find an approach to each client, this level is very difficult to reach, but the employees should at least try to do it. This proposal may sound rather unusual, but perhaps, Abissnet should launch some training programs for its employees, especially phone call operators. The skills of interpersonal and intercultural communication can be acquired through constant training. The seminars can be conducted at some intervals. The company will not incur any considerable expenses but in the long term, this course will enable the management to avoid any misunderstanding between the customers and employees.
Furthermore, Abissnet should adopt a very flexible policy, concerning people with limited English proficiency. It is rather irrational to reject every candidate who does not speak fluent English, with time passing this person can easily master the language, and his contribution to the companys prosperity may considerable. It is of paramount importance for the management to remain impartial and unprejudiced while deciding on the suitability of the candidate, irrespective of his or her ethnic origin.
It is also necessary to bring the seriousness of the situation home to the employees. The management should explain to them that the recent decline can be just the tip of the iceberg; if the state of affairs does not change, and the consequences will be much more severe. This explanation must not sound like a threat, because otherwise, the workers may not react appropriately (Kamin, p 66). At least subconsciously, every person is inclined to resist any kind of compulsion, he or she will try to change his ways, but this will be just a temporary improvement. The management should outline the origins of the current difficulties.
As far as monetary awards are concerned, we need to say that the company should invest more capital into customer service because very often people, who work in this field, are underpaid and occasionally, they have no stimulus to be more involved with their duties. Overall, the question of monetary bonuses is rather dubious, especially if we are speaking about Internet-service providers such as Abissnet. The thing is that the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of employees often has no numerical representation; therefore, it cannot be measured by traditional quantitative methods. The only suggestion is that the company should invest more capital in this area to attract and retain competent employees.
It seems that this complex approach may alleviate the situation, but the management should not count on quick results, it is primarily aimed at long-term objectives. This is probably the major limitation of this plan because it does not ensure any miraculous changes. Nonetheless, it enables to achieve the best price-quality ratio and lays foundations for the effective functioning of customer service in the company Abissnet.
Implementation and Control
The implementation of this plan can be subdivided into three stages: first, the management should increase employees awareness of the situation, which has recently emerged. As it has been noted before, some of the workers do not fully realize the whole complexity of the problem. Again, it should be borne in mind that this explanation must not take the form of a threat, in this context, threats are practically useless. The second stage should involve the reorganization of the structure: the whole procedure should be simplified and adjusted to the needs of the clients. This simplification does not have to result in the reduction of the staff. Secondly, the company should launch training programs for the employees. They should improve their interpersonal and intercultural communication skills. The third step to be taken is to increase the financing of this sector; the lack of qualified workers is one of the most stressing issues in Abissnet at the present moment. We should also emphasize the fact that the process of monitoring must not transform into supervision. If the management can convey its main message there will be no necessity for monitoring.
Conclusion
The effective functioning of customer service lays foundations for the success of any company. Any attempt to disregard this issue leads only to heavy losses and the inability to hold the position in the market. To avert problems, connected with this question, the company should always increase the professional level of its workers. It mostly concerns their knowledge in the particular field and interpersonal skills. The strategies described earlier, represent a pattern, which may help Abissnet to return its former clients and make the company more attractive to potential purchasers. This strategy addresses both qualitative and quantitative aspects of customer service. Theoretically, it may achieve the most optimal price-quality ratio but under no circumstances this plan can be regarded as a path of least resistance because the improvement of client service is a gradual and arduous process.
Bibliography
Carlos W. Moore, Justin Gooderl “Managing Small Business: An Entrepreneurial Emphasis”. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008.
Efraim Turban, David King, Jae K. Lee, Dennis Viehland. “Electronic Commerce 2004: A Managerial Perspective” Prentice Hall, 2003.
Maxine Kamin, American Society for Training and Development “Customer Service Training”. American Society for Training and Development, 2002.
Ron Zemke, John A. Woods. “Best practices in customer service” AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 1999.
Xiaotie Deng, Fan Chung Graham, Fan R. K. Chung. “Internet and network economics” Springer, 2008.