Monitoring Customer Service

Lecturer Broadcast

Click here to view an explanation about why to monitor customer service.

Klik hier om na ‘n verduideliking van kliëntediens-monitering te luister.

Explanation by Lecturer Johan Kleingeld from Edge Consulting, expert on customer services.

In service organisations, systematic mechanisms for securing customer feedback can be a remarkably cheap source of market research. Furthermore, the mechanisms themselves can generate useful public relations benefits; customers think they must be important because they have just been asked their opinion. Next time, they will more than likely volunteer their opinion and encourage their friends to do the same.

There are times when, as an organisation, we think we are listening to customers, but we do not gain a true picture.

This can be because:

• We only hear about the complaints – not the compliments.
• A large percentage of dissatisfied customers do not complain, and we are lulled into complacency.
• We have a different perception about the complaint, thinking it is minor whereas in fact it is a major upset for the customer e.g. not getting their grants, but we get our salaries!
• Measuring service delivery is an effective means of identifying the success of a programme for service improvements. And feedback forms the basis for this measurement. Such measurement will provide:
  • An understanding of customer needs.
  • Feedback on how the department is currently performing.
  • Information on future demands of customers – for continues improvement.
  • Understanding of comparative competitive performance – what other departments are doing that we are not doing.