ABC Consumer Electronics Company has a problem. There has been a growing trend of complaints of poor customer service and management wants the problem fixed. Complaints cover the spectrum of the company's service; late delivery, rude service, poor product knowledge, etc.
Low morale in the department has led to high employee turnover, which leads to employees with little experience and knowledge.
The company has always relied on a small call center to handle after-sales contacts with the customers, such as follow ups, complaints, and returns. The sales department usually handles all contact up until the sale.
The customer service staff in both departments is mostly young with some college or technical training background, although the sales department draws the better educated with commissions and bonuses for performance.
The attitudes of the two departments to the rise in complaints also differ. The sales team feels that they "did their job and it's the call center's responsibility to clear up any problems." The call center, who routinely deals with the unsatisfied customers, feels that the sales team pushes the customers to buy more expensive products than they really want or need to boost commissions. Also, in order to keep costs low, the company has a policy that any returns, refunds, or exchanges must be documented and approved by a manager.
The Customer Service Manager controls both departments: the call center and sales. The customer service manager position has been unfilled for nearly a year. The last manager had been a long-term company employee and had a great deal of institutional knowledge to call on, but there is no one in Customer Service, now, with that knowledge.
You have worked for the company for five years, in both sales and the call center, and have worked your way into mid-level leadership in both departments. Currently you are the longest serving member of the customer service department. As the senior customer service representative, company management is considering you for the position of new manager for the team but wants to see how you would do in the position. You must prepare effective solutions for the ongoing customer service problems.
You think that the team has the potential to be successful and has only a few people whose morale is so bad that you don't think they can improve.
Create a 10- to 12- slide PowerPoint® presentation in which you:
Make recommendations for creating effective customer service in the organization.
Explain how improved customer satisfaction will affect the bottom line.
Identify which strategies you would recommend to persuade the current customer service staff to support your recommendations and that delivering exemplary customer service is good for the company and themselves.