Customer Diversity and Interaction at Big Heart Foundation - Case Study Example

Customer Service Introduction Customer service can be defined as a collection of activities or services offered to the customers in any social or business set up with an aim of boosting or fostering the level of satisfaction of the customers under consideration. Customer service is an aspect that is common in all fields and the level of satisfaction can be interpreted or determined in different ways depending on the perspective of the customer service. Customer service is an entity common mostly in the business sector. The success of a business largely depends on the quantity of customers as well as their level of satisfaction. In most cases, the relationship between the number of customers and their level of satisfaction is directly proportional. Thus, in any business endeavor, the more satisfied the customers are, the more of the business will have. Thus, every business would indulge in a regular measurement of the customer service dynamics in their business premises as well as the effects of such dynamics on their performance (Fogli 2006). Customer service in sports sector Despite the fact that most sporting activities are not considered as a business activity, sports still remains an activity whose existence depends on participants who are regarded to as the customers of the entity in this case. Thus, the success and productivity of the sporting activities largely depends on the satisfaction on the customers (Chen 2013). The quality of service provided by sporting sector depends on many aspects of the sports and how well the aspects meets the sports men and sports women demands. Such aspects include, the fun within the sport, the objectives of the sport, auxiliary benefits from the sporting activities such as participant’s certificates, T-shirts among other kitty’s. Elements of customer service Customer service as mentioned earlier is the backbone for the success of any business, event or activity whose subjects are customers. Thus, quality customer service delivery especially in the sports industry largely depends on some very important aspects. These includes. a) Service delivery personnel The people who are mandated with the responsibility of delivering the service under consideration must do it in a manner that fosters satisfaction among the customers. The service delivery personnel must therefore be trained on how best to dispense their duties within their area of jurisdiction (Fogli 2006). b) Service delivery process The whole concept of service delivery should be designed to operate in a manner that ensures maximum satisfaction of the customers. All aspects that are likely to hinder customer satisfaction can be easily eliminated by modifying the service delivery process whenever such an action is deemed necessary (Lash 1989). c) Physical evidence The environment from which the service is dispensed should be likeable and should have the abilities of attracting more customers. The environments should have attractive features and the whole event, activity or business should foster customer satisfaction with regards to aesthetics as well as mental comfort. Customer interaction at Big Heart Foundation Big heart foundation is a United Kingdom based organization formed with an aim of fighting heart related diseased through facilitations such as funds, trainings and actual treatments on victims with such heart diseases. Having volunteered at big hearts foundation as a trainee in their various departments, I had a chance of participating in planning and dispensing most of their activities and events. During this period, I interacted with various customers in various perspectives. The customer base within the big heart foundations could be categorized into different classes with regards to nature of their participation. These three categories included victims, donors as well as sponsors. Customer diversity at Big Heart Foundation Victims During my time at the reception and the inquiry desk at the big heart foundation headquarters, I had an opportunity to interact with most of the victims who visited the organization on various grounds. Our interactions were mostly socially based with them mostly sharing with me their story with a heart disease. Although most of the conversations with victims were full of empathy, I always managed to give them word of good hope and the level of confidence the organization had in ensuring their well-being. Although some of the customers were not willing to talk a lot about their experience as well as speak about their progress or well-being, the question answer session as a means of collecting data at the inquiry desk always gave me a chance to have a talk with them. I found most of the customers’ social, strong and exuded outstanding confidence. Most of them had great association with the foundation and this could be attributed to the great and outstanding help offered by big heart foundation. The customer relationship I established with these victims enabled me to understand how the victims feel about the foundation as well as having a peek of their experience with the heart related ailments. Despite of their ailments coupled with their financial implications that came in handy, all the victims I interacted with found solace at the big heart foundation initiative. Donors The donors as a customer base at the big hearts foundations span from the victims to non-victim donors who were willing to give a hand of financial support to the foundation in their mission to fight heart related ailments. My interaction with the donors was the most common one and happened both at the inquiry desk/customer care desk as well as at the event or the field where the events took place. Such customers had great hearts and were willing to have a chat during service delivery. Their reception right from the greetings to their reception and service delivery exuded their generosity and willingness to help. We were able to have long chats with most of the customers and I learnt that most of them were willing to donate through participation in the various events because they had, or have a victim within their social circles. One of the customers during one service delivery explained to me how her wife died of heart failure and has had to raise their two kids alone. Although the experience seemed tragic, the mad showed a lot of strength and had a personal goal of fighting the disease through his donations to the big heart foundation. My interaction with the donors enabled me to understand why they were were open handed and were willing to donated through participation in the events organized by the foundations as a funds drive. It came to my attention through this interaction that, most of the donors were inspired by their past experiences with victims within their social circles while some were inspired by the nature of events organized by the foundation. Sponsors This was the biggest customer base at the big hearts foundation due to its biggest share with regards to the donations. The quality of service delivery to donors was emphasized by the management of the organization at all times. The main sponsors at the big heart foundation was world health organization as well as the UK government among may other popular companies and institutions. Customers from these sponsors were mainly through representatives sent from the management of the various institutions. I had an opportunity to interact with a representative from the world health organization during the volunteering programme. The representative was helpful in enlightening me on the big plans the organization had on fostering the establishment of organizations such as big heart foundations. Although such representatives had less to share with reception personnel like I was, the few minutes they had to spend with me while I processed their clearance to meet the top management was never full of silences. I always had a way of bringing up a conversation that would make the feel comfortable to share their views. Elements of customer service The above experience coupled with the success of the big heart foundation in their undevout to fight heart diseases through fund raising drives are attributed to their ability to deliver quality service to their customers. A lot of philosophies and theories exist that try to explain the customer service delivery. Among these are the four elements of customer service; i) Perfect product The nature of events organized by the organization as a fundraising drive coupled with their mission has attracted a lot of customers from all grounds. A perfect product will always attract many buyers or customers in this case. Thus, their success is attributed to the nature of the service they are providing (US 1996). ii) Caring delivery The nature of delivery must be attractive and should portray a sense of care and respect for the customer. The human resource department, customer care as well as the inquiry desk should dispense their duties with customer’s comfort and satisfaction in mind. This is the big reason for the success of big heart foundation. iii) Timeliness Customer service should be as fast as possible. Subjecting customer to long waiting periods kills their satisfaction with the service delivery. Thus most organization ensure timeliness in service delivery by supplying sufficient workforce with regards to the amount of customers (Fogli 2006). iv) Effective problem resolution process Every system is prone to failure or problems at some point, thus, there must exist a well-designed system to get rid of such failure in the system. The problem resolution should be fast and effective so as not to cause harm to customer satisfaction (Chen 2013). Conclusion Quality of service is a package of the quality of service as well as the nature of service delivery. The better the quality of service, the more the customers it attract and subsequently, the more the outcomes from the service. The customer is an important entity and for success of any business or event, it’s planning and design must put into consideration all the customer needs. The big hearts foundation has paid attention to most concepts of customer service and is the reason why it is experiencing immense success. References 1. ZIMMERMAN, D. H., ZIMMERMAN, P., & LUND, C. (1996). The healthcare customer service revolution: the growing impact of managed care on patient satisfaction. Chicago, Irwin Professional. 2. FOTTLER, M. D., FORD, R. C., & HEATON, C. P. (2002). Achieving service excellence: strategies for healthcare. Chicago, IL, Health Administration Press. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=14378. 3. CHEN, J. S. (2013). Advances in hospitality and leisure. Vol. 9 Vol. 9. Bingley, U.K., Emerald. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=573236. 4. FOGLI, L. (2006). Customer service delivery: research and best practices. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. 5. (2001). Service delivery. London, Stationery Office. 6. INGHILLERI, L., & SOLOMON, M. (2010). Exceptional service, exceptional profit the secrets of building a five-star customer service organization. New York, American Management Association. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=34154. 7. JOHNSTON, R., & CLARK, G. (2008). Service operations management: improving service delivery. Harlow, Essex, England, Financial Times/Prentice Hall. 8. UNITED STATES. (1996). Customer service expectations and measures being undertaken to improve the overall quality of service delivery at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Veterans' Training and Employment Service, Department of Labor: joint hearing before the Subcommittee on Compensation, Pension, Insurance, and Memorial Affairs and Subcommittee on Education, Training, Employment and Housing of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, second session, June 12, 1996. Washington, U.S. G.P.O. 9. LASH, L. M. (1989). The complete guide to customer service. New York, Wiley. Read More