© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Week 27: Monitor, adjust and review customer service This week you’ll look at how The Landscapers Association monitors, adjusts and reviews it customer service performance by: • developing surveys and other devices to obtain and apply customer feedback to improve products and services • developing, procuring and using resources effectively to provide quality products and services to customers • problem solving in order to adapt service and product delivery in consultation with stakeholders • managing feedback according to relevant processes. Your tasks this week are: • complete the discussion on feedback collection. • complete your reflection on coaching staff • create a feedback form -Part A • answer consolidation questions –Part B
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Resources
Reading covers: • Developing and using strategies to monitor targets and standards • Obtaining customer feedback to improve the provision of products and services • Using resources effectively to provide quality products and services to customers • Making decisions to overcome problems and adapt customer services, products and service delivery • Manage records, reports and recommendations
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Developing and using strategies to monitor targets and standards Strategies to monitor the achievement of targets and standards include: • Development of databases and other controls to record and compare data over time • Electronic feedback mechanisms using intranet, internet and email • Feedback forms and other devices such as questionnaires, interviews, surveys and focus groups to enable communication from customers • Policies and procedures can be used as benchmarks and then updated as necessary • Strategies maybe long-term or short-term and as strategies will differ depending on the timeframe for targets this should be clearly stated • Training and development activities matched to project implementation and milestones
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Obtaining customer feedback to improve the provision of products and services
Customer feedback is a marketing term that describes the process of obtaining a customer’s opinion about a business, product or service Customer feedback is so important because it provides marketers and business owners with insight that they can use to improve their business, products and/or overall customer experience. The following are the top reasons why customer feedback is important to your business: It can help improve a product or service It offers the best way to measure customer satisfaction It can help improve customer retention It delivers tangible data that can be used to make better business decisions It can be used to identify customer advocates
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Obtaining customer feedback
Some things to remember when obtaining customer feedback: • The effectiveness of the feedback will depend on the quality of the questions asked • When designing feedback surveys be conscious of the number of questions and what they are asking as customers are busy • Ask questions that will allow the customer to relate to the service they received rather than yes/no answers • Positive and negative feedback should be used to improve the customer service processes of your organisation.
Continued
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Obtaining customer feedback -continued The table below shows how both types of feedback can be used to do just this
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Customer feedback forms The best customer feedback forms are user-friendly – meaning they have a simple design and straightforward instructions, and they’re easy to fill in. They’re relatively easy to build because they don’t require any complex data or payment details. To design easy-to-use feedback forms consider the following: Leave plenty of white space The form should appear uncluttered and easy on the eye. A cluttered form scares people away because it looks time-consuming and hard. Label the form fields well Make sure what you’re asking is clear and concise to read and understand. Eg by placing each label close to its corresponding field reduce the time it takes for a user to complete the form. The further the label is from the field, the more the user’s eye has to travel back and forth to avoid making a mistake. This will increase time, effort and frustration. Continued
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Customer feedback forms (cont.) Don’t make any fields compulsory Make it as easy as possible for users to provide even small amounts of feedback. If the user doesn’t want to answer one of the four questions, don’t stop them from submitting the form. Never forget that customers are doing you a favour – they don’t owe you anything. Set the tabbing order If your form is completed online ensure the user can tab through the form using the keyboard rather than lifting their mouse or finger to move to the next field. Make it compatible with mobile devices Make sure the form is responsive (ie it resizes depending on the device it’s being view on) Write little, but well Cut down the number of questions in the form so it only includes those that have the clear goal of gaining a better understanding of your users’ experience. The fewer questions, the better.
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Customer feedback forms (cont.) Avoid jargon and keep language simple and consistent Example: in your feedback form, use the same terms you use in your product. Find out what you don’t know The most useful feedback helps you learn something you didn’t already know. What’s hidden in your product that you aren’t aware of? Do your customers use the product differently than you expected? The best way to learn something new is to include a ‘free text’ box. It also shows your users that you care about what they have to say. Multiple choice fields only give you the answers you’re expect, in your company’s own language. Create consistent rating scales If your feedback form includes more than one question with a rating scale, make sure that the scales are consistent from question to question. If 1 is the best and 5 is the worst in one question, don’t change the scale from 1 to 10 on the next question. Don’t pre-select any answer because its leading, which is less useful and make you look untrustworthy.
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Using resources effectively to provide quality products and services to customers
To effect a change in the customer service system will require resources and as a team leader you may be expected to source some of these resources. These resources may include: • buildings/facilities - new office, warehouse etc may be required • equipment - new hardware or upgrades to run systems, phones etc • finance -internal funds to fund training, advertising, new equipment and external funding to fund new office etc • information -more information may be required to promote products/services • people - human resources to improve product/service quality
Continued
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Using resources effectively to provide quality products and services to customers -cont
• power/energy -increase focus in the community and cost of emission reduction scheme means that organisations have an increased priority on how this resource is to be used and managed • technology - advances in this area are a critical component of customer service • time - introduction of new processes should be aimed at reducing inefficiencies Depending on the organisation, forms will need to be completed and approval required in order to organise these resources
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Making decisions to overcome problems and adapt customer services, products and service delivery Using a continuous improvement model with respect to customer service will allow any issues in the processes to be identified and improvements can be made where necessary. There are a number of methods that can be used. One example is Total Quality Management (TQM) To be successful implementing TQM, an organisation must concentrate on the eight key elements: 1 Ethics 5 Teamwork 2 Integrity 6 Leadership 3 Trust 7 Recognition 4 Training 8 Communication
Continued
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
The recommendations that come from the continuous improvement systems are then directed to the relevant personnel who may effect change and incorporate the recommendations into the given system. Changes will range from small changes that are hardly noticed to large or sudden changes. Relevant personnel can be consulted on the changes via various means including: • meetings (formal and informal) • emails • presentations with opportunities for asking questions • brainstorming sessions After the consultation process has occurred, a decision on how to overcome the problem identified, needs to be made. This will involve a managerial skill that is transferable to all situations and contexts.
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Manage records, reports and recommendations In customer service you may be required to read/prepare customer service documentation as follows
• Customer service records -may include any data recorded during or after a customer interaction. Many customer relationship software systems will have features to record this data. Privacy regulations should be consulted here.
• Customer complaints records - often organisations record these separately and records need to be clear, accurate and sufficient as they could be used as legal evidence.
• Customer service reports -Perhaps run monthly to summarise performance against targets. Should be based on facts.
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Manage records, reports and recommendations continued • Customer service recommendations -Based on the facts on the customer service reports they should be short and clearly state where the organisation has an opportunity for improvement.
• Customer service policies or procedures - to be used as benchmarks for the performance of the various elements of customer service.
• Manuals and training aids - must be maintained with changes to ensure contents remain accurate and relevant.
Ensure that any material you produce is easy to read and free from any grammatical or punctuation errors
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
This week’s tasks • Complete the discussion on feedback collection • Complete your reflection on coaching staff • Crate a feedback form • Answer consolidation questions
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Week 27 Assessment: Feedback form
This week your assessment is broken up into two tasks. Part A The Landscapers Association would like to get feedback from customers after they have used the member referral system. The aim of gathering this feedback is to see if the member referral system was successful for the customer and members are servicing these customers correctly. Create a feedback form - no more than 10 questions - to gather information on the customer’s experience. This will enable The Landscapers Association to monitor, adjust and review its customer service performance in this area. 1. Discuss how this customer feedback will be distributed to our customers and how the completed feedback forms will be collected from the customers. 2. Discuss how the customer feedback will be consolidated and how you would report and make recommendations based on your findings from the information gathered. Approximate length: 500 words, survey
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Part B Answer the following questions: 1. Briefly describe aspects of legislation or ethical practice that may apply to customer service provision by completing the following table:
2 Describe how customers with special needs should be managed and provide two examples that illustrate your points - special needs may be people with a disability, people from different socio-economic backgrounds or other cultures or any special need will qualify.
Description How it is relevant to customer service
Anti-discrimination legislation Australian consumer law Ethical principles Codes of practice Privacy laws Financial legislation Workplace health and safety
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
Part B –(continued)
3 What are some effective techniques for solving complex customer complaints? Include the principles and techniques involved in the management and organisation of: • customer behaviour • customer needs research • customer relations • ongoing product and/or service quality • problem identification and resolution
4 List and describe three personal measurement processes you can use to provide improved customer service.
© NSW Technical and Further Education Commission C3 Wk27, Aug 2016| Version 2.0
What’s on next week?
Next week you’ll be exploring the steps involved in developing a sustainability policy for The Landscapers Association. In particular, you’ll:
• define the scope for the sustainability policy • gather the necessary information to plan and develop the policy • consult with necessary stakeholders • include appropriate sustainability strategies • develop a policy that reflects The Landscapers Association's commitment to sustainability.