Why should the Service Improvement Team be headed up by top management? Is this necessary for the effort to succeed? Give two examples.
The Service Improvement Team is responsible for ensuring that quality is at its highest in delivering customer service. The team needs a top management and its necessity is drawn upon the manager’s capability to continually check and make adjustments to the way service is being delivered. In addition, the manager is endowed with the responsibility to make sure that the team is giving the public what it deserves both effectively and efficiently.
For example, the service improvement team is responsible for handing out customer feedback forms, on the other hand the manager is the one tasked to analyze customer responses and make adjustments to improve the low points determined in the feedback analysis. Another example is when critical issues arose from customer and service team interaction, the top management is responsible for mitigating the issue and prescribes changes to be developed and delivered by the Service Improvement Team. The areas of concern that the top management has to the team determine the level of success that the entire service organization is possible to achieve.
1. Define the customer and identify the two types, give specific examples.
Customer is defined as the person or group that buys services and goods from a business or store. There are two types of customer; the first one is the External customer, which is the end receiver of the product and services. In addition, external customers are situated outside the boundaries of the organization. An example of an external customer is the one that comes in to the electronics store and buys a home theater system. Another example is a customer that calls the hotel reservation desk and book for a room.
The other type of customer is the internal customer, who is the one that obtains information, product or services from someone to complete a task and they are mostly situated within the organization. An example of an internal customer is the procurement manager of the organization, who collects information about suppliers and order supplies as part of his responsibility in the organization.
2. What are the 4 parts of high quality customer service? List and describe each.
High quality customer service is composed of four parts,
- Identify customer expectation – customer service is not limited to just providing what the customer wants. The service team should also consider the factors that a customer might expect from the business, such as after sales services or a warranty.
- Exceed customer expectations – Once the customer’s need was satisfied, the business must also consider topping it with something extra to ensure continuous business from the customer. For example, the customer ordered a vanilla ice cream, in order to exceed expectation; a simple cherry on top of the ice cream would make the customer more than satisfied.
- Provide product and services – selling products to the customer is not enough to ensure satisfaction. There should always be value to their money by providing extra such as a free gift-wrapping service if the customer purchased a toy. It will not hurt to ask the customer if the toy being purchased is a gift for someone and if it is, then offer to have it wrapped for the occasion.
- Create profit – great customer service entails customer satisfaction and satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, which ensures continuous business from the customer. Given the number of satisfied customers that are coming back for more, it will reflect to the business as profit and growth fro the business.
3. Explain the systems management approach to service.
System management approach to service can be defined as the management’s application monitoring, prevailing processes, infrastructure, services, middleware and software tools that are being placed to align with the business goals.
4. What is the service profit chain? How does it relate to service?
Service profit chain is the establishing point that brings together employee satisfaction, profitability, productivity and customer loyalty. It relates to service as customer loyalty entails profit and growth, achieving such growth will require value that has been created through the services provided to the customer.
5. Explain the role of the Service Improvement Team, what are their responsibilities, who is on it, what is the size and how long does this team exist?
The role of team encourages improvement in customer care and services of the organization and ensures that the services being delivered go beyond the normal expectations.
The responsibilities of the team are comprised of facilitating improvement, serve as the coach to the employees and identify the organization’s weaknesses, opportunities and create strategies based on the organization’s strength. The team will also composed of individuals such as the senior management that will serve as the team’s authority and oversees the entire operation of the team. The remainder of the team will be from various management sectors of the organization. The ideal size for the team will be eight to ten members, but will still vary depending on the size of the organization. In addition, the team is intended to last for a year, after which half of the team will be replaced with a fresh batch to ensure that new ideas will keep on coming in.
6. Describe the role of the CHAIRPERSON of the Service Improvement Team.
The role of the Chairperson in the team is to review the team’s commitment and ensures that everyone adheres to the initiatives of the team and that everyone functions according to their signed commitments. The Chairperson has the authority to call for meetings discuss matters concerning the team’s accomplishments, concerns and future goals.
7. Describe the qualities the administrator of the team must possess.
The administrator is similar to a project manager that has the responsibility pertaining to all aspects of leadership actions. He must also detail oriented, and have the capacity to handle information, continuous information flow, work with the Chairperson with the agendas, track progress and ensure completion.
8. What is the purpose of the TEAM CHARTER?
The purpose of the Team Charter serves two purposes, one is to serve as the source of illustrating the focus and direction of the team and educate other members of the team about the specifics of the team’s direction.
9. What is the SUBTEAM's purpose and who serves on this team?
The service improvement team is composed of sub-teams that are working under a specific directive. The sub-teams are formed to execute plans described in the charter. For example, the communication sub-team will specifically focus on developing and implementing the prescribed communication tools. The sub-team is composed of members that are specialized in a specific function area and their expertise on the matter constitutes the purpose of the sub-team.
10. Identify the pitfalls of the sub-team, the ones, which need to be looked out for and corrected if, found.
The most common pitfalls associated to sub-teams that needs to be looked out for and corrected is the lack of accountability, which means no process were set up and there was a lack of monitoring on the development of the entire process. Without accountability, all the team’s effort will be wasted instead of being used as guiding force for the entire team. This leads to another pitfall encompassing the lack of communication between the group members, as the leaders delegate responsibilities to he group, it is required that communication remain constant to ensure that every effort is tracked for monitoring and development.
References
Arden, T., & Edwards, S. (2009). Best Practice Guide for Customer Service Managers. Wiltshire, UK: Solent Design Studio.
Behara, G. K., & Inaganti, S. (2007). Approach to Service Management In SOA Space. BPTrends. Retrieved from http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/02%2D07%2DART%2DApproachtoServiceManagementinSOASpace%2DGopala%2DFinal%2Epdf
Mikes, J. (2010). Team Charters: What are they and what�s their purpose? :: Change Management :: Resource Library :: Life Cycle Engineering. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from http://www.lce.com/Team_Charters_What_are_they_and_whats_their_purpose_360-item.html
Snow, D., & Yanovitch, T. (2010). Unleashing excellence: The complete guide to ultimate customer service. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
