Interview
The importance of good customer relation cannot be ignored in influencing sales in any company. Excellent customer relations help in increasing sales and creating a great public image. I interviewed one of Nike’s customer care assistants on the issue and got a great insight into the working of the company and how they utilized great customer care relations to influence change in the company. Nike has made great steps in the footwear industry over the years, and this has been majorly due to the great products that help satisfy customers.
I interviewed Frank Levi, who works at Nike Factory Store - Birch Run, Detroit MI 48415 as a customer care. He explained to me some roles played by customer relations in the company and the major customer service issues that the company faces.
Frank told me that “Nike values customer service as the best way to connect with its customers.” By connecting with customers, Nike gets to collect views from customers and handle their complaints.
He further explained that “our customer service also helps us differentiate the company from competitors” (F. Levi, personal communication, July 6, 2015).Most companies in the industry including luxury producers are posting high competition. Through effective use of customer relations, Nike gets to handle cases of fake items from product imitators.
F. Levi (personal communication, July 6, 2015)“Moreover, our customer relation helps our company to handle any disputes on defects and get customer feedback on the performance of our products.”
Customer relation issues
“Most customers who present their issues to the company complain about the delivery time of goods. These complaints are majorly on the personalized goods that the company offers as part of our expansion strategy.” (F. Levi, personal communication, July 6, 2015)
“Secondly, we also receive complaints on pricing. This has however been caused by the costly raw materials used to make our high-quality products. Most of our products deal with athletes’ wears that require rare and quality materials to make.” (F. Levi, personal communication, July 6, 2015)
“Some customers also have issues with colour. It has been hard to meet all customer needs with differences in quality and colour preferences.” (F. Levi, personal communication, July 6, 2015). Nike produces a variety of products to cater for almost all products in the sporting world.
Current trends in the footwear industry
Nike is part of the great and developed footwear industry. Nike has been a leading footwear manufacturer in the athletic industry. The company has performed remarkably in the provision of high-quality goods to customers. There has been improved technology in making customized shoes in the industry. The customized shoes have had improved durability, temperature, lightweight fabric and extensive cushions. Consequently, this has helped improve customer service by offering them better quality and improved services. Nike needs to increase more investment in this area to attract more investors.
Analysis and Recommendations
Nike has invested greatly in customer relations. The great and experienced customer care and research center have helped to increase the company’s sales. Moreover, the company has also greatly made steps to maintain its brand name. Maintaining a great database and online presence in the company has helped the company ensure that it gives customers the necessary feedback they need. Most customers get responses in time in case of any complaints and positive feedback on changes.
Nonetheless, the company can improve its customer relations by increasing the number of customer care for the company. The company will, therefore, meet customer feedback and handle complaints more effectively. The company caters for a high number of customers and receives a lot of feedback from customers. In addition, faster feedback will enable increased ordering of goods.
The use of analytics in business has become a great trend today. Most organizations have been investing in business analytics. This has helped analyze customer feedback and improve decision making and customer services. By increasing the use of business analytics, the company will be able to improve environmental protection and meet customer needs. The available data from the web analytics will moreover help protect meet customer needs by analyzing the products with the highest demand.
Moreover, Nike needs to ensure that it improves on the social media feedback and presence. Increasing customer feedback in social media helps make the company get to compete in the wide footwear industry fairly. Social media has made great steps in improving service delivery. The use of Facebook and Tweeter to handle customer issues has become a great changeover in most organizations. Nike gets to market its products and communicate changes in products to customers.
Customer relation is important for the success of any company. Any organization needs to ensure that customer feedback and needs are handled in the best way possible. Nike has maintained great customer interaction, and this has helped increase its sales greatly.
References
Cheskin, M. (2011). Innovation & Imitation: A Decade of Changes & Trends in Footwear. Podiatry Management, 30(8), 97-108.
Hilgers, M. P., Mayer, B., & Walther, M. (2009).Current Trends in Athletic Shoe Design. Athletic Therapy Today, 14(6), 4.
Mihola, J., Wawrosz, P., & Kotěšovcová, J. (2015). Is the most innovative firm in the world really innovative? International Advances In Economic Research, 21(1), 41-54
NIKE, Inc. (2015). NIKE, Inc. MarketLine Company Profile, 1-33.
Appendix
Nike Factory Store - Birch Run, Detroit MI 48415
Frank Levi
12240 S Beyer RdBirch Run, MI 48415
Phone (989) 624-6100
