How to Improve Customer Services by Communicative Skills.docx

How to Improve Customer Services by Communicative Skills.docx

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HowtoImproveCustomerServicesbyCommunicativeSkills

HowtoImproveCustomerServicesbyCommunicativeSkills

Introduction

IusedtoworkwithGSNPropertyServicesCo.,Ltd.,whereIwashiredasacustomerservicesupervisorfortwoyearsGSNisaGerman-investedPropertyServicesCo.,Ltd.andhasbeenoperatingsuccessfullyinChinasince1996.Itprovidesawiderangeofservices,includingpropertyservicesmanagement,projectmanagement,equipmentmanagement,propertyassessmentandconsultingservices.Thecompanyenjoysaverygoodreputation

Atthebeginning,thechairmanoftheestatescommitteeofOldVillaCompoundEliteGardenaskedustotemporarilytakeoverthecompoundforthreemonthsastheirresidentswerenotsatisfiedwithservicesprovidedbytheirformerservicescompany.InordertoexpandbusinessesinShanghai,ourcompanyintendedtotakeoverthecompoundnotjustfor3months,butforgood.Actuallyseveralcompanieshadmadeabidfortakingoverthegarden,soweknewwewouldbereplacedbyoneofthemifwefailedtosatisfytheneedsofourcustomers.Itbecameveryurgentforustosolveallkindsofremainingproblemstosatisfytheneedsofourcustomers.

Asacustomerservicesupervisor,Iwasaskedtodoaresearchprojectonhowtosatisfyourcustomers’wantsandneeds.Theresearchprojectmattersagreatdealtothecompany,becauseitisofvitalimportancetowhetherwecouldtakeoverthegardenforgood.Ispentsometimeinvestigatingandcollectingrelevantinformationandmaterials.Ifocusedonthreeaspects,namely,conceptofcustomerservice,importanceofcustomerserviceandwaystoimprovecustomerservice.Finally,Idrawtheconclusionthatourstaffmembers’communicativeskills,includingtheiroralEnglishabilityandinterpersonalskillsaredecisivefactors.

ThegoalofmyresearchprojectistoupgradeourservicelevelbyimprovingcommunicativeskillsofourstaffmembersinordertomakeitpossibleforourcompanytoestablishharmoniousbusinessrelationswiththeOldVillaandtobuildupcloserrelationshipswiththeresidentsintheGarden.Accordingly,itwasurgentforthestafftohavefullunderstandingofourcustomersfirstandtoenhanceoralEnglishskills,interpersonalskillsandmanagementskillssoastobeabletodealwithproblemsofthecustomersmoreefficiently.

IdidtheresearchandcarriedouttheprojectfromJan26th,toJan29th2011,exactlyfourweeks.Wefirstdistributedquestionnaires（SeetheAppendix）andmadecustomersurveystoknowtheweaknessesinthecustomerservice.FromtheresultsoftheQuestionnairesandsurveys,Iknewthatourcustomersexpectedourstafftobeabletocommunicatewiththembeforewecouldsolvetheirproblems.Forthatpurpose,mycolleaguesandIhadabrainstormmeeting.ThenIdesignedatrainingprogramafterIhadadiscussionwithourprofessionalconsultants.WedecidedtobeginwithimprovingtheoralEnglishofourstaffandtheireverydaybehaviorsaswelearnedthatstaffintheformerservicescompanyfailedtocommunicatewiththeowners,whichledtothedissatisfactionoftheowners.

Actually,allourstaffmemberswereabletospeakalittleEnglish.Thedifficultywasthattheywerepoorinsometechnicaltermsorsomespecificexpressions.Icollectedsomephrasesandexpressionsandcompiledthemintoahandbook.Ihadthebookrecorded（ofcourse,nativevoice）andaskedthestaffmemberstolistentotherecordingoverandoveragain.Wespentanhoureachdayinthethirdweekofmyprojectimplementation,practicingoralEnglishtogether.Iactedasanownerandaskedthemvariousquestions.Inaddition,wealsoaskedourstaffmemberstothinkofsomethingelsethatwemightbeaskedabout,anddiscussedsatisfactoryanswerstogether.

Contrastedwiththestatisticsofcustomersatisfactiononemonthbefore,ourtrainingprogramprovedtobeasuccesssincethedegreeofourcustomersatisfactionwasraisedtoagreatextent.Wefinallysucceededintakingoverthegarden.

2.ProjectRationaleandProjectHypothesis

2.1ProjectRationale

SincewhatIdidwasaimingtoimproveourcustomerservices,Ispentsometimeinvestigatingandsearchingforrelevantinformationandmaterialsastheoreticalbases.Ifocusedonthreeaspects,namely,conceptofcustomerservice,importanceofcustomerserviceandwaystoimprovecustomerservice.

BensonSmithandTonyRutiglianosaid（2003）“tosolveclients’problemscanwintheirtrust”.Whattheyhavesaidsetsahighercustomerservicestandardandalsogivesusdirectionsoradviceonhowtoprovidegoodcustomerservice.Togettoknowcustomers’opinionsaboutservice,PracticalBusinessProjectandProposalDesign（JohnHilton,2001）statesmanyspecificmethods,suchasgroupdiscussion,customersurvey,andquestionnairesforresearch.WorldClassEnglishForBusiness（TheopenUniversityandBritishCouncil,2001）providesothermethods,forexample,face-to-faceinterviews,follow-upsurveys,telephoneinterviews,andsoon.EnglishBusinessReportWriting（ChangYutian2003）introducesmanywaysonhowtogetdataanddesignquestionnaires.PracticalProjectDesign（GuYueguo,2002）providesaseriesofprocessesfromthedesignofaproject,topresentingprojectreportandtoassessment.

AllthesegavemeenlightenmentwhenIwasdoingmyresearchproject.Generallyspeaking,customerserviceisacomplexsystem.Itincludestwoimportantfactors:

oneisthecustomers’relationshipwiththestaffmembersoftheservicecompanyandtheotheristhecompany’sservicetocustomers.Thetwofactorsarebasedontimelyandefficientmutualcommunicationandunderstanding.Accordingly,itrequiresthatserviceworkersbeabletospeakgoodEnglishtoassuretimelyandefficientmutualcommunicationandunderstandingbecauseweareservinginternationalcustomers.

2.2ProjectHypothesis

Asisknowntoall,customerserviceworkersareonthefrontlinesincetheyfacecustomerseveryday.Therefore,theirprofessionalknowledge,behaviorsandperformancesrepresenttheimageofthecompany.Itisnotdeniablethat,intoday’smarket-orientedeconomy,oneofthemostpowerfulweaponsfortheserviceindustrytowinthemarketistoprovideexcellentcustomerservice.Thecustomersareourmostvitalassetstosomeextent.Beforewecouldattractmoreloyalcustomers,theEliteGardenmanagementofficeshouldunderstandthefact,shouldfacethecustomerservicewithanewattitudeandpaygreatattentiontoemployees’communicativeabilities.

AsIseeit,trainingisoneofthenecessaryandefficientmethodstoimproveemployees’communicativeabilitiesinvariousaspects.Thefirstisbasictraining.Thetrainingprojectenablesemployeestoknowourservices,oursystemsandproceduresandefficientwaystocommunicatewiththecustomers.Thesecondiscompetitiveskillstrainingaimingtoadvancethestaff’sperformance,whicharecalled“softskills”,includingoralEnglishabilitiesandinterpersonalskills,ourattitudetowardourcustomersorcustomerawareness.OralEnglishabilitiesandinterpersonalskillsareakeyelementincustomerservice.Customersaremoredemandingthanever,astheyhavetherighttodemandgoodservices.Theemployees’abilityindirectlydealingwithcustomersisavaluablecomponent.Thereby,itisessentialtoimprovecustomerserviceworkers’knowledgeandcommunicativeskills.Onlyacustomerserviceworkerwhoisknowledgeable,efficientandfriendlycanwincompletesatisfactionfromhiscustomerswhojustwanttogetexactlywhattheypayfor.

Inaword,itishypothesizedthatifweshouldsuccessfullytrainourserviceworkersintheirprofessionalknowledge,oralEnglishabilities,interpersonalskillsandprofessionalethics,mycolleaguescouldefficientlycommunicatewithourcustomersandfullysatisfyourcustomers’needs,andwewouldcompletelytakeovertheOldVillaCompoundEliteGardenandforgood.

3.ProblemAnalysis

3.1FinancialProblemAnalysis

Amongallthe106households,only35gaveusmanagementfeesthefirstmonthwewerethere.Weshouldhavehadanincomeof99906.74yuanthatmonth,butactuallywereceivedonly32150.82yuan.Thatistosay,whatwereceivedwasonlyonethirdofwhatweshouldhavegot.

GSNEliteGardenbranchwaslocatedintheGarden,andwehadtopayfortherent,whichcost1200permonth.Werecruitedtwonewstaffmembers,whichmeansmoremoneyshouldbeallocatedforpayment.ThesumofmoneyforpaymenttoallthefifteenstaffmembersintheGardenamountedtoabout45000yuan,Thirtypercentofthewholeincomewastobesubmittedtotheheadofficeofthecompany.Morethingsthatneededmoneywerewaitingtobedone.Itwasobviousthattheincomecouldnotbalanceexpenditurethefirstmonthwewerethere.

3.2HumanResourcesProblemAnalysis

IntheEliteGardenbranch,wehad15peoplealtogether.Ofthe15ofus,onewasthemanager,onewasthecustomerservicesupervisorandassistantmanager,fourwerecustomerserviceworkers,onewasthemaintenancesupervisor,onewastheheadoftheguardsandsevenguards.Wehadonlyfourofthestaffmembers,whodealtwithdailycustomerserviceduties,and2ofthemweregreen-hand,whograduatedfromvocationalcollegesin2009.ThereasonwhydoesthecompanyrecruityoungandinexperiencedserviceworkersisthatweneedtokeepdownthecostwiththeexpansionofthebusinessinShanghai.Asthetwoyoungmenhadjustgraduatedwithnoexperienceinthecustomerservicesindustry,theyhadmanyproblemsincommunicatingwiththecustomers.EventhoughtheyhadpassedCET-4,theystillwerenotabletocommunicatewithourforeignresidentsverywell.Besides,theydidnothaveenoughprofessionalknowledgetodealw