Identifying Your Customers' Expectations

Overview/Description
 Customers have expectations of all the companies with which they transact business. These expectations may be predominantly unspoken but, all the same, they have a strong influence on how your company, its employees, products, and services are perceived. In the first lesson of this course, you'll be shown what characteristics customers want to see demonstrated, what external influences generate customers' expectations, and how your company's ability to fulfill expectations at various levels impacts on customer satisfaction. Too often, the service that customers receive is based more on the needs of the company than the wants of the customer. For example, customer interface technologies are usually introduced to save on costs, and keep prices competitive. Companies believe that low prices are what customers value above all else, and they think that the additional efficiency of the automated systems will be appreciated. However, when asked, customers frequently say they would be willing to pay more to be given the opportunity to deal with "real people." The only way to discover what's important to customers is to ask them, and the second lesson of this course shows you how to do just that. You'll learn how to extract the qualitative customer feedback that enables you and your team to focus on delivering the kind of service that delights. Even if you don't have responsibility for undertaking customer surveys, knowledge of the various research methods and the principles behind them will help you to give informed input when asked for your opinions. If your role dictates that you need to maintain awareness of ever-changing customer requirements, then knowing how to conduct focus groups, and use the most effective questioning techniques will be invaluable to you. In its final lesson, this course will also give you the opportunity to practice interpreting customer responses, and extracting from them the attributes of your service that impact most on customer satisfaction. Customer feedback is essential--there is no substitute for asking customers to tell you what they want--your company's ability to satisfy their expectations depends on it.

Target Audience
 Customer service managers, supervisors, and team leaders, and anyone with responsibility for managing the delivery of quality customer service

Expected Duration
4.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

The Fundamental Criteria of Customer Service

  • recognize the benefits of knowing what influences customers' perceptions of service.
  • classify examples of customer service according to the essential service quality characteristics they illustrate.
  • demonstrate the essential characteristics of service quality, in a given situation.
  • classify service factors according to the type of customer requirement they satisfy.
  • use given research information to suggest service factor modifications that ensure improvement in overall customer satisfaction, in a given situation.
  • identify the external influences on the customer expectations described.

    • Identifying Customers' Expectations

  • recognize the benefits of qualitative customer satisfaction research.
  • classify methods of exploratory research according to format.
  • choose appropriate data-collection methods for given objectives and available resources.
  • recognize four question types for gaining qualitative customer feedback.
  • use appropriate questioning in a personal customer satisfaction research interview.
  • recognize the purposes of the essential components of a focus group.
  • make the necessary preparations to conduct an effective focus group, in a given situation.

    • Interpreting Survey Responses

  • identify the advantages of translating customer interview responses into a set of attributes and expected benefits.
  • recognize the process stages of refining attribute statements from qualitative research data.
  • refine attribute statements from a set of narrative responses.
  • classify attributes according to their mutual expected benefits.

    • Course Number: CUST0171