Provide goods/services

[Midfielder]

Fuller details are ... Provide goods/services in accordance with time, cost and quality specifications, and customer requirements..


Post your tho's on this element.

[ashrafun]

Customers are only satisfied if their requirements are consistently met. To be competitive, business must meet these requirements in a timely and cost effective manner in accordance with quality specification required by customer. TQM provides the organizational focus and mind set, as well as specific tools and techniques, to ensure meeting customer requirements, first time and every time. A key principle of TQM is intense focus on customers and their satisfaction.

[nirmala]

Provide goods/services in accordance with legal, ethical,cutural and technical standards

Quality and price are two criteria for consumers when making a purchasing decision.
So it is that most businesses compete by matching the quality and prices of their products and services.
What too many businesses fail to realize, however, is that there is a third criteria: customer service.
How you treat your customers will determine whether or not they will continue to do business with you or turn to one of your competitors.
Walk the talk. It’s not enough for the CEO to say, "We are going to make customer service our top priority." Everyone - from the CEO on down- must focus on customer service. They must institute a service strategy that creates a customer experience that is so remarkable their customers tell everyone they know about it. That doesn’t mean you have to pay employees more money or hire more people. What you must do is this: Develop the people you have so they understand that their number one task is to take care of the customer.
In a desire to avoid seeming brusque, there can be a temptation to allow the caller to wander off on a tangent. You must always be on the lookout for this. If you find it happening, you need to get back on track as quickly as possible. Avoid interrupting the customer, but take the first opportunity to say something like, "You mentioned that you were having difficulty with..." and bring the conversation back to the topic in hand.

[anilla]

Providing a good service that makes your customers feel valued, while maintaining efficiency, is a tricky balancing act for any business. Outsourcing to an answering service or virtual assistant is one way to ensure that the person dealing with incoming calls is focused on that particular job, but this alone is not enough. You need to make sure that customers never feel rushed, but no one issue should be allowed to drag on, costing you money. Achieving this takes skill and practice. Here are a few tips to help you get the balance right.

Own the problem

One of the most common complaints that customers have regarding customer service is that they keep getting passed from one person to another without anyone ever taking responsibility. An important part of good customer service is ensuring that very quickly the caller speaks to a representative who is prepared to own the problem. If they are unable to deal with every aspect of the problem themselves, it is still far better if one person remains the contact point for the customer, even if behind the scenes several people are required to get to the bottom of the issue. It is important that the person to take responsibility for a customer's case should be the first person they speak to when they call, or if that is not possible, the first person they are transferred to. If they are transferred more than once, it will begin to feel as if they are being fobbed off.

Be ready

There is a temptation to try to demonstrate good service by answering a call the moment the phone rings. There is nothing wrong with this in principal -- callers should never be left hanging, after all -- but it is important to make sure that you are completely ready. When you speak to a customer, their case should be the only thing that you are thinking about. If you are still writing up notes from a previous call, or attending to some administration, you will make a poor first impression and you won't be able to give the level of service that the call demands.

Set a positive tone

Building a rapport with the customer is vital if you are to resolve their problem in a way that is mutually satisfactory. More often than not the caller will have experienced some level of frustration or inconvenience that has prompted their call. Therefore, the onus is on you to set a positive tone to the discussion. Treating every caller as someone you genuinely want to help, and every call as an opportunity to achieve a positive outcome, will create a good impression on your customers and will make your job easier and more enjoyable.

Stay in control

In a desire to avoid seeming brusque, there can be a temptation to allow the caller to wander off on a tangent. You must always be on the lookout for this. If you find it happening, you need to get back on track as quickly as possible. Avoid interrupting the customer, but take the first opportunity to say something like, "You mentioned that you were having difficulty with..." and bring the conversation back to the topic in hand.

Listen

Whether your calls are outsourced to an answering service or you are dealing with them in-house, the most important thing that any customer service representative can do is listen. It may sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how often it is ignored. Just because you think you know what the customer is going to say, it doesn't mean that you do. Listening carefully increases the chances of resolving the problem first time, which is both good customer service and efficient.

www.paeveryday.com/_blog/Articles/post/How_to_Give_Good_Customer_Service_Without_Compromising_Efficiency/

[poonam]

We satisfy our needs and wants by buying goods and services. Goods are items you can see and touch, such as a book, a pen, salt, shoes, hats, a folder etc. Services are provided for you by other people, such as; a doctor, a lawn mower worker, a dentist, haircut and eating in restaurants
In a business must meet these requirements in a timely and cost effective manner in accordance with quality specification required by customers and provide goods and services on time

[rosebud]

Growing a business involves the whole company.
While growth can happen naturally incrementally, a step-up to the next level takes considerable resources and commitment. All hands must be on deck to make a significant difference.
When planning for growth make sure:
• your growth objectives and aspirations are part of your overall strategy and not an isolated project or quarantined to one area of the business
• all plans are communicated to ensure that staff are enthusiastic about the opportunity and take ownership of the process
• goals and targets set are realistic, or you will set yourself up for failure
• growth strategies and tactics are well researched and proper financial analysis is carried out to assess additional funding requirements, if necessary, and expected return on investment.
In most cases, growing your business will require investment, in time, money and resources. Do not underestimate what this may be and ensure that growing your business will not disrupt your everyday business operations.
Do not assume that your growth will be profitable or the investment made will be recouped right away. Determine what an acceptable rate of return is for your company and do not be discouraged if it is several years off. You may need to seek financial advice to help you with this process.
For testing ideas and doing a detailed analysis of different growth initiatives, a business case should be developed. Core elements of a business case should include:
overview of activity/initiative, including objectives, scope and key stakeholders
• needs analysis
• key assumptions
• cost/benefit analysis
• operational considerations
• due diligence assessment (if a third party is involved)
• risks indentified and mitigation strategies
• timelines and reporting
Your growth plans need to be part of your business strategy as well as factored into your annual business plan.
www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/grow/strategy/planning/Pages/default.aspx

[anilla]

Customer service is critical to small businesses. Good customer service can be the difference between being able to compete and survive and failing. So I'm continually amazed at how many small business owners take a "wing and a prayer" approach to good customer service in their business; they hire what they think are good people and just assume that they'll do the right things – often without even bothering to do any customer service training.

This customer service guide is designed to take a more systematic approach to good customer service. The articles here will teach you what good customer service is and give you tools to assess and improve customer service in your small business.

The People aspect of business is really what it is all about. Rule #1: Think of customers as individuals. Once we think that way, we realize our business is our customer, not our product or services. Putting all the focus on the merchandise in our store, or the services our corporation offers, leaves out the most important component: each individual customer.

Keeping those individual customers in mind, here are some easy, down-home customer service tips to keep ’em coming back!

1. Remember there is no way that the quality of customer service can exceed the quality of the people who provide it. Think you can get by paying the lowest wage, giving the fewest of benefits, doing the least training for your employees? It will show.Companies don't help customers... people do.

2. Realize that your people will treat your customer the way they are treated. Employees take their cue from management. Do you greet your employees enthusiastically each day; are you polite in your dealings with them; do you try to accommodate their requests; do you listen to them when they speak? Consistent rude customer service is a reflection not as much on the employee as on management.

3. Do you know who your customers are? If a regular customer came in to your facility, would you recognize them? Could you call them by name? All of us like to feel important; calling someone by name is a simple way to do it and lets them know you value them as customers.

Recently I signed on with a new fitness center. I had been a member of another one for the past ten years, renewing my membership every six months when the notice arrived. I had been thinking about changing, joining the one nearer my home and with more state-of-the-art equipment. So when the renewal notice came, I didn’t renew. That was eight months ago. Was I contacted by the fitness center and asked why I did not renew? Did anyone telephone me to find out why an established customer was no longer a member or to tell me they missed me? No and No. My guess is they don’t even know they lost a long-time customer, and apparently wouldn’t care.

4. Do your customers know who you are? If they see you, would they recognize you? Could they call you by name? A visible management is an asset. At the Piccadilly Cafeteria chain, the pictures of the manager and the assistant manager are posted on a wall at the food selection line and it is a policy that the manager’s office is placed only a few feet from the cashier's stand at the end of that line, in full view of the customers, and with the door kept open. The manager is easily accessible and there is no doubt about "who's in charge here". You have only to beckon to get a manager at your table to talk with you.

5. For good customer service, go the extra mile. Include a thank-you note in a customer's package; send a birthday card; clip the article when you see their name or photo in print; write a congratulatory note when they get a promotion. There are all sorts of ways for you to keep in touch with your customers and bring them closer to you.

6. Are your customers greeted when they walk in the door or at least within 30-40 seconds upon entering? Is it possible they could come in, look around, and go out without ever having their presence acknowledged? It is ironic it took a discount merchant known for price, not service, to teach the retail world the importance of greeting customers at the door. Could it be that’s because Sam Walton knew this simple but important gesture is a matter of respect, of saying "we appreciate your coming in," having nothing to do with the price of merchandise?

7. Give customers the benefit of the doubt. Proving to him why he’s wrong and you’re right isn’t worth losing a customer over. You will never win an argument with a customer, and you should never, ever put a customer in that position.

8. If a customer makes a request for something special, do everything you can to say yes. The fact that a customer cared enough to ask is all you need to know in trying to accommodate her. It may be an exception from your customer service policy, but (if it isn’t illegal) try to do it. Remember you are just making one exception for one customer, not making new policy. Mr. Marshall Field was right-on in his famous statement: "Give the lady what she wants."

9. Are your customer service associates properly trained in how to handle a customer complaint or an irate person? Give them guidelines for what to say and do in every conceivable case. People on the frontline of a situation play the most critical role in your customer’s experience. Make sure they know what to do and say to make that customer’s experience a positive, pleasant one.

10. Want to know what your customers think of your company? Ask them! Compose a "How're We Doing?" card and leave it at the exit or register stand, or include it in their next statement. Keep it short and simple. Ask things like: what it is they like; what they don’t like; what they would change; what you could do better; about their latest experience there, etc. To ensure the customer sends it in, have it pre-stamped. And if the customer has given their name and address, be sure to acknowledge receipt of the card.


sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/custservtipslt.htm
sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/Customer-Service-Guide.htm