What is customer service Essay Example for Free

What is customer service Essay Customer service consists of the various ways in which a business looks after its customer. A business that wants to provide a comprehensive high quality customer service must be aware of, and be able to analyse, customer needs, and also to set up systems to ensure that those needs are catered for from the first enquiry to after-sale service. Customer service consists of a wide range of activities. The purpose of these is to make sure that customers are happy and will return again and again. Every business should remember that customers are the factors, which affect demand for the product. It is one of the greatest importance, therefore, for the organisation to know its customers- who they are, what they need and how it can satisfy those needs. Customer service is one of the most important ingredients of the marketing mix for products and services. High quality customer service helps to create customer loyalty. Customers today are not only interested in the product they are being offered but all the official elements of service that they receive from the greeting they receive when they enter a retail outlet, to the refund and help that they receive when they have a complaint about a faulty product that they have paid for. Introduction to Sainsburys Sainsbury is a high class retail store that supplies to a wide range of products mainly dealing with foods but now, starting to increase the companys gross profit by dealing in an even wider range of products including household products, health, beauty, alcohol and cigarettes and currently starting to build a reputation in the clothes retailer. They also to compete with the likes of Bp and Esso by opening up over 250 petrol stations all over the UK. Sainsburys was founded by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury in 1869, they first launched their first Sainsbury store in Dury Lane as a small dairy store, it quickly became popular because the economic wealth in the area was at an all time low and by the new Sainsbury store offering low prices it became one of shoppers favorites. As the stores success grew so did the branches open up on higher class high streets like in Islington and Kentish Town further growing and then becoming a Public Limited Company (PLC) which now owns over 500 branches across the UK. Types of Customer Lordly Customers Lordly customers like to be treated as special and important. How they are treated is often just as important to them as what they are buying. They are impatient. They will refuse to wait in lines or queues, even if it means not buying what they want. Their time is valuable. If they have questions they want them answered right away. They are status conscious and like to be seen as powerful and up to the minute. They do little research before they buy and often buy on impulse. They treat staff as just there to serve them and have little interest in staffs feelings or problems. They are not afraid to complain and can do so loudly. They are not interested in the systems that shops may have. They believe that rules are made for other people. Logical Customers Logical customers are interested almost exclusively in what they are buying. They are after the best deal and expect staff to be able to answer technical questions logically and factually and to be experts in what they are selling. If problems arise, they want a properly detailed explanation of what will be done. They retain receipts and often the external wrapping so that they can return faulty goods according to the system. They take note of special offers but they never buy on impulse. They usually study the consumer magazines and check prices in different places before they buy. They ignore the fact that staff are people. They will put up with indifferent service to get what they want the right price. If they complain, they may well invoke the law! Friendly Customers Friendly customers see buying as just another human inter-action. They prize friendliness and like it when people use their name. They like the warmth of a welcome and a smile. They prefer small shops and hotels where they can become known and where they can more easily get to know staff. For them, the way that the purchase is sold is almost more important than the product itself. They like to think of staff as friends and they are willing to help out if staff have problems. They will often make decisions based upon the staffs recommendations. They are influenced by people they like, particularly their close friends and trust others to give them good advice. They hate to complain and feel badly, and personally, let down if things go wrong. They can have very high standards of behaviour General Public This is anyone who might want to buy a particular good or service. This category includes passing trade and regular customers. Passing trade- Customers who might come into a shop or call on a service provider because they happen to be in the vicinity or want to try a new supplier Regular customers Those who use the same supplier time and time again.