Service Failure Experience of Amazon-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the roles of customer service in the department of customer service. Answer: Introduction A contract which does not include any type of physical goods and is transmitted from the supplier to the purchaser is known as Service (Erik, 2015). The benefits of these services are established by the purchasers willingness to do the exchange. This report talks about a recent service failure that has been encountered. A service process map will be created and the important points will be highlighted in that. The analysis will be done of the service failure and recommendations will be provided for the recovery strategy for service. Overview of Amazon Amazon is known as the largest online retailer in the world, trading over forty types of goods (Jackson, 2014). They sell books, electronics, groceries, jewellery, auto parts, etc. It is also called as an Internet technology and e-commerce platform, a platform for execution and logistics, Internet advertising and search technology platform. Along with this it is famous as an Internet start-up incubator. The revenue of Amazon has increased from 41% to $48.08 billion in 2011 (Schneider, 2014). Service Failure Experience of Amazon I am a regular customer of Amazon and have ordered many goods from them. But recently I had a wave of problems in order as a customer with Amazon. I bought a product by using Amazon Prime and choose the next day delivery option. I did not receive the order within the prescribed time and in return got a message which was saying that the delivery is failed as you were not available at the location. But on the other side, I was waiting for the order at the location. Naturally, I complained that I haven't received my order but in place of my order, I got a mail asking for apologies and saying it will get deliver tomorrow. Only a sorry mail was not enough to comfort me. They were supposed to give a proper explanation, the reason for the delay and the assurance of my order that it will get deliver properly. At the end, I received the product which I ordered. I absolutely know that the extra work of linking every sale with the product and listing the costs of every product. But at the same time I know the feeling of misplacing of a Buy Box. Service process Map The process of customer service flow chart permits the development of the simple structure for the management of customer relationships. Correspondingly, the company must confirm that they can manage or monitor the contacts with the users (Martin and Osterling, 2012). The complaints of customer and requests flowcharts are managed in order to identify the problems of customers and offer solutions for the same. In particular cases, the care procedure has to activate a growth to another level of service, so that issues can be handled and flow can be followed without any break or unnecessary delay. At the time when a customer contacts the Service Desk, the CSR (Customer Service Representative): Records the contact information of the user and the request details. Categorizes the request of the user. Defines the supportability of the request. Solve the request of the user. Checks the solution and ends the request. Confirms good service (Microsoft, 2008). The process flow of customer service- Symbols At the time of mapping process, there is number of symbols that are used for the communication between various process functions. Certain symbols are industry particular (i.e. engineering, network design and software design) (ASU, 2018). There are some of the symbols that are important in order to make effective process map. Some of them are: Terminator Process step/ Task Pre-defined Process Decision Point Delay Document On-Page Connector Flow Line Analysis The service personnels interacts with the customers of the company in order to offer information to address investigations concerning to services and products (Friend, 2018). Roles of Personnel Handling Problems Customer investigations often include a certain form of criticism that the representative of customer service should manage according to the companys policies and guidelines. Many times, the representatives try to resolve the problems or at least suggest some solutions (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). In the above case of Amazon, the representatives may have suggested some solutions or could have given an explanation and the status of the good that was ordered. But they only send a message and a mail for the apologies which was not enough to satisfy the customer. Assisting in Sales Selling the service and product of the company is the part of the job of the service representative, besides the fact that he/she may or may not be the part of that sales division. Some of the representatives may offer information of service or product in order to provide assistance to the customer in taking the decision to purchase products (Writing, 2018). The services which were offered in the above case was not satisfying and even the sales representatives of the company are not so supportive to provide proper support and suggestions for purchasing any product. Clerical Tasks The customer service representatives job may include clerical responsibilities. These types of duties include answering the telephone calls and making proper transfers (Cal, 2008). In the above case, the service representatives were not doing their job properly as they were not able to answer properly about the status of the product and many times they were showing least interest in my concern. It is not acceptable from the viewpoint of the customer because he/she has paid for it. Recommendation and Service Recovery Strategy If the list is reflecting different information than the product, it is recommended that the personnel of the company should immediately contact the customer, before delivering the product. It is very important that the sales personnel should explain the modification and get confirmation from the customer to continue with the order before dispatching it from the store or warehouse. If the difference is irrelevant, or the products consumer is not answering promptly, keep a communication letter with the shipment by determining the difference and explaining the reason behind the change or delay. Similarly, keep a label of return which can help the customer in returning the goods or products easily. This letter will involve the company's justification for the delay or change in the product and will explain the status of the product. Along with this if the customer is mailing about any issue than the responsible department should immediately give a response and should try to solve that issue. Mostly general answers such as recognized the problem, saying sorry, and offer worthless platitudes or a discount message are transferred to the customer, but these replys really fail in solving the problem. Each response should be revised by a peer to settle that it replied the question of the customer and there is a device in place to confirm assured rectifications are done. It is particularly important to evaluate the message history. The only thing that irritates the customer more is the conversation which starts fresh every time. Conclusion Creating the roles of customer service in the department of customer service need proper organization and planning. The kind of business and the customers expectations should be considered. The above report is reflecting an experience of service failure due to the improper planning of the customer service department of Amazon which is a well-known online shopping website in the world. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that it is very important for every business to have proper planning and organization which can help in retaining the customers. If the customer service department of Amazon can follow the proper process in the case of service failure then they will be able to comfort the customer. In the above case if the service department would have provided a proper explanation for the issue than such problems would not have been faced by the customer. References ASU (2018) An Introduction To Process Mapping [online]. Accessed from: https://service.asu.edu/blog/an-introduction-to-process-mapping [Accessed 11 February 2018]. Cal, M. 2008 The contribution of services to development and the role of trade liberalisation and regulation. London: Overseas Dev't Institute. Erik, J. 2015 Modeling and Selection of Software Service Variants. KIT Scientific Publishing. n.p. Friend, L. (2018). What Are the Duties of a Personnel Administration Specialist? [online]. Available from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/duties-personnel-administration-specialist-1145.html [Accessed 11 February 2018]. Jackson, A. 2014 Amazon: How Jeff Bezos Built the World's Largest Online Store. New York: Simon and Schuster. Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P. 2015 Services Marketing. Australia: Pearson Australia. Martin,K. and Osterling, M. 2012 Metrics-Based Process Mapping: Identifying and Eliminating Waste in Office and Service Processes. U.S.: CRC Press. Microsoft (2008) Customer Service Process Flow [online]. Accessed from: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc543259.aspx [Accessed 11 February 2018]. Schneider, G. 2014 Electronic Commerce. U.S.: Cengage Learning. Writing, A. (2018) Duties Responsibilities of a Customer Service Representative [online]. Accessed from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/duties-responsibilities-customer-service-representative-759.html [Accessed 11 February 2018].